AbitibiBowater and the CEP Union scheduled talks start next week

AbitibiBowater and the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers (CEP) Union are meeting next week to begin 17 days of scheduled talks.

The union represents 5,000 current and 13,000 retired AbitibiBowater employees in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, whose contract expired last May.

Wages and job security will likely be discussed. Maybe even concessions.

But Union president Dave Coles said there will not be progress unless the government ensures a solution to the pension challenges that threaten AbitibiBowater and the forestry industry as a whole.

The union says Ottawa should permit pension regulators to change the rules for such companies and be operating under trust. It says pensions should be calculated on a going concern basis instead of a liquidation basis.

The move would wipe out most of the plan's insolvency and prevent retirees from losing some of their pensions in case of bankruptcy. It would also lessen the company's burden to use precious cash to fund the liability.

Read more:

Pension issues hang over upcoming AbitibiBowater contract talks, says union (Canadian Press)