Pension issues unresolved as TSTT upgrades

THE EDITOR: For good or bad, TSTT is always in the news, whether it be for service disruption or network modernisation. But the Telco pension issues remain unresolved in spite of agitation by some retirees who continue to feel the effects of inflation, rising cost of living and depleted purchasing power.

The pension plan has an asset base around $3 billion with a net surplus of $900 million, yet there is a disparity where former senior managers who were illegally placed there receive as much as $65,000 while some legitimate pensioners receive a little as $1,000.

In mid 2021, the company proposed increases that amounted to $300 million total but the offer was rejected by the Communication Workers' Union (CWU), which walked out without submitting a counterproposal.

Retirees marched around RBC Royal Bank, TSTT House and the Board of Inland Revenue with nothing to show for their effort. All that is left is for them to march on the CWU.

Meanwhile, TSTT has downsized and upgraded its network in an attempt to maintain market share and profitability.

It has been the pattern of this union to create an impasse by asking for something not within the company’s power to give; the fool is indeed thirsty and dying off.

KEITH GONZALES

retiree, Telco/TSTT