UPDATE: OPSEU LCBO Bargaining Unit Strike

posting date Posted: August 2, 2024

 

Following a two-week strike, OPSEU LCBO workers have voted to ratify a new three-year Collective Agreement. Here are some important facts about strikes and your OPSEU Pension Plan if you are a member of the affected bargaining unit.

When you do not work because of a strike or lockout, your employer does not pay you and no pension contributions are made on your behalf. This means you will not earn pension service during that period. Your pension service matters in several ways:

  • It is a key factor in calculating the amount of your pension. The more service you accrue, the higher your pension will be when you retire.
  • It is used to determine your eligibility for unreduced early retirement options, including Factor 90 and the 60/20 option.
  • It is used to determine your eligibility for post-retirement health and dental benefits.
  • If you are currently buying back pension service through payroll deductions, your payments will stop.

You will have the opportunity to purchase the service you did not earn due to the strike. OPTrust will provide buyback quotes to all affected members by the end of 2024. A buyback application is not required.

A strike could impact your retirement date. If you plan to retire in the next couple of months, please Contact Us.

Please refer to our Q&A for more detail:

How does a strike or lockout affect my pension service?

Members normally earn pension service for periods of contributory service. When you do not work because of a strike or lockout, neither you nor your employer is making contributions so pension service will not be earned during the strike or lockout. However, you can buy back service when you return to work. Your membership in the pension plan continues during a strike or lockout so there is no impact on the calculation of average salary.

Why does pension service matter?

Your pension service matters in several ways:

  • It is a key factor in calculating the amount of your OPTrust pension. The more service you accrue, the higher your pension will be when you retire.
  • It is used in determining your eligibility for OPTrust’s unreduced early retirement options, such as Factor 90 and 60/20.
  • It is used in determining your eligibility for post-retirement health and dental benefits.

Can I buy back the service I miss if there is a strike?

Yes, the OPSEU Pension Plan allows members to buy back service for strike periods and lockouts after they return to work. Members do not need to submit a buyback application for the strike period. OPTrust will provide cost quotes and payment options to purchase the strike period to all impacted members by year-end. Members should sign in to their Online Services account to ensure that their email and mailing address is up to date.

Will I be able to finance a buyback of service?

Yes, if the buyback cost exceeds $500.

Will my employer match if I buy back service because of a strike/lockout?

Yes, under the Plan, employers match any member contributions for a period of strike or lockout.

I am planning on retiring in 2024 on an early unreduced retirement factor. I am concerned that losing service due to a strike/lockout will impact my retirement and I will not be able to retire on my planned date. What are my options?

If your early unreduced retirement eligibility date falls within a strike or lockout period, you would not have accrued the service needed to retire on that date with an unreduced pension.

Once a strike/lockout ends, you will be provided with an opportunity to purchase the service you have lost in order for your retirement eligibility to remain unchanged.

OPTrust will provide cost quotes and payment options to purchase the strike period to all impacted members by year-end. Members do not need to submit a buyback application for the strike period. Members should sign into their Online Services account to ensure that their email and mailing address is up to date.

What happens if my retirement date fell on a day during the strike/lockout period or if I am retiring this year?

If you have not already done so, please notify your employer of your upcoming retirement date as soon as possible. Your employer will then inform OPTrust of your retirement, and we will work directly with you to collect all the required forms and process your pension.

What if I am on an approved leave of absence without pay and there is a strike/lockout? Would I have to buy back any strike/lockout time separately?

No, you would not have to buy back the strike period separately, if:

  • you are on an approved leave of absence without pay for illness (including WSIB), pregnancy or parental leave, or special or educational purposes, and
  • your leave begins before a strike/lockout and ends after a strike/lockout.

This is because you already have an agreement with your employer to be away from work for that period. The normal 24-month buyback application deadline and calculation rules would apply to the entire leave period. When you return to work you would apply to purchase service for the period of your leave.

However, if the date of your return to work falls within a strike/lockout period, and as a result, you did not return to work as scheduled, you would not accrue pension service from your return-to-work date until the strike/lockout ends.

I am paying for a buyback through payroll deductions. Are my payments affected if there is a strike or lockout?

When there is a strike or lockout, all buyback payments made through payroll deductions are suspended. After a strike/lockout, payroll deductions will resume at your previous payment amount. However, to complete your buyback, you will also need to make up your missed payments. There are two options for making up missed payments:

  • make a single lump sum "catch-up" payment to OPTrust, or
  • have your remaining payments re-financed to include the missed payments.

I am on LTIP in 2024. Will an OPSEU strike affect me and my pension?

In the past, Plan members who are in receipt of Long Term Income Protection (LTIP), were not affected by a strike/lockout.