Former workers of Marathon Pulp may see deep pension cuts

The former workers and retirees of Marathon Pulp in Ontario are now finding out how steep the cuts may be to their pension benefits.

The provincial court appointed administrator for the bankrupt company is overseeing the company pension plan and sent letters last week to mention how much retirees could receive by the time the plan is put to bed at the end of this year. Another letter later in the year will confirm the final reduced amount.

Some retirees could receive hundreds of dollars less in monthly benefits.

The proposed reductions are based on a preliminary “valuation” of the plan's assets. Once the valuation is complete, the remaining funds will be invested in an annuity and the plan's members – a few hundred – will be paid out of that.

Marathon Pulp's pension plan was a good one until the economy went sour and negatively affected several company pensions, not just this one.

Former workers who have been retired from the mill for many years are also impacted by benefit reductions, because the fund has to be used to pay retirees and those who were working at the mill before it went bankrupt in March.

Marathon Pulp's management was making its required contributions to the plan before bankruptcy, but because the company is no longer contributing, there is a finite amount of money in the plan.

Read more:

Pension cuts could be deep (Chronicle Journal)