| The OMERS Governance Review was made public this week and its recommendations came as very good news to CUPE members in the plan. Our worst fears about the review didn’t materialize and its recommendations signal, for the most part, what we were looking.But this favourable outcome didn’t happen by accident. All the successes – and the expected changes that will guarantee OMERS works for workers – are down to you and your efforts as members of the OMERS plan; and to the skill and expertise that we’ve built among CUPE Ontario leaders, our dedicated staff and CUPE national staff.
Together we undertook a campaign to ensure our voices were heard. CUPE Ontario was the only member of the Sponsors’ Corporation (SC) to make its written contribution to the review public. Robert Poirier, the OMERS governance review’s advisor, even recognized the comprehensiveness and expertise in our submission.
But CUPE Ontario went even further: our submission was accompanied by more than 60,000 names of CUPE members who supported our demands for change and accountability at OMERS. We printed out a list of names out and sent it along with our submission. Those thousands of names sent a clear message and were, on their own, an impressive achievement. Getting the names was the work of an entire team of activists, with special recognition going to Krista Laing, OMW chair, who led this initiative that made such a difference.
Among the changes we won:
- the Sponsors Corporation will be replaced by a Sponsors Council, which ends corporate confidentiality requirements and marks a return of powers to the unions and employers
- a restored co-chair model and the establishment of the council a real bargaining board
- current corporate bylaws will be replaced by a charter
- an end to honoraria for sponsors’ representatives
- the addition of non-voting observer seats to the council
- OMERS Administration Council will continue to fund actuarial and legal advice that the Sponsors Council needs
OMERS has been given until June 2027 as the timeline to complete all the changes called for in the review. Some will require changes to the OMERS Act, others will be carried out by ministerial order and changes to regulations. George Cooke, the board chair of OMERS Administration Corporation, will stay on to oversee the transition and review advisor Robert Poirier will stay on to shepherd the process.
The next steps will require our vigilance. One example: this Globe and Mail story about the OMERS review claim, in the last paragraphs, that no employee sponsors had complaints about OMERS’ returns or performance. That is patently untrue and we will correct the record.
As with every change, the devil will be in the details. The Ford government is ultimately responsible for creating the path to transition. We will be watching them closely – and they know it – to make sure that no unintended consequences will hurt our ability to control and influence the plan that manages the retirement future of tens of thousands of CUPE members.
Congratulations to everyone who worked to make this win possible.
In solidarity,
CUPE Ontario |