HEAD OFFICE BRANCH – NEWSLETTER NO. 24 – AUGUST 2009.
AGM The AGM was held on the 14th May 2009.
Due to the death of Joe Casey during the year, Billy Kelly acted as Chairman. Billy paid tribute to Joe’s “larger than life” qualities and expressed our thanks for his great contribution to the Retired Staff Association. A minute’s silence was observed as a mark of respect for his passing. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
The Committee elected for 2009/10 was as follows : -
Chairman – Billy Kelly; Secretary – Mary Kenny; Treasurer – Frank Farrelly.
Committee Members : Séamus O’Donohoe ( also a Trustee ); Paddy Mac Rory (also a Trustee ); Derek Hackett; Finbarr Lynch; Tony Collins; Paddy McDonald; J.J. O’Dwyer.
The Secretary’s and Treasurer’s Reports were adopted and ESB Group Internal Audit were re-appointed as Auditors.
A prize draw was held for those in attendance. On the recommendation of the Committee it was agreed unanimously that the holding of prize draws would be discontinued.
Two motions were included in the Agenda for the meeting: -
No.1 That the Constitution be amended to permit us to increase the size of the Committee from seven to nine members.
No.2 That the membership subscription be increased to €0.23 per week, €0.46 per fortnight and €1.00 per month.
Both of these motions were passed unanimously.
RECRUITMENT Although our membership at close to 800 is at an all time high arising from the EM campaign, it was agreed that there has to be an on-going effort to recruit more members. Suggested methods are : a) Personal efforts by all members; b) Periodic advertisements in the EM.; c) Provision of information and contact names at Pre-Retirement Courses.
d) Similar information on our Blog site
PENSION SCHEME It is a useful development that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of our Association is now being kept informed by ESB management of the situation in relation to Pensions. This didn’t happen without strong representations from the NEC. At a meeting in March 2009 with Luke Shinnors, HR Manager, and Marie Collins, Pensions Manger, an assurance was given that pensions would continue to be paid at their current level. On the 27th April 2009 the full Executive Committee was called to a meeting in the Alexander Hotel in Dublin to hear a report from the Actuary on his review of the Fund as at 31st December 2008. He gave the grim news that there is a deficit in the Fund of €1.9 billion, a decline of about 35% due to the extraordinary turbulence in the financial markets during the past year. The rules of the Fund are that the ESB must now consult with the Actuary, the Superannuation Committee and the Trustees to find a solution.
Tom McMahon, Deputy HR Manager and Marie Collins attended the AGM of our NEC on the 9th July 2009 and gave a further briefing on the situation. They were left in no doubt about our concerns. Davy Naughton, Secretary of the ESB Group of Unions, also attended. His view was that it wouldn’t necessarily be a good idea for pensioners to be directly involved in the negotiations which are now taking place between the ESB and the Group of Unions. In any event, the rules of the Superannuation Fund preclude this from happening. But he is now fully aware of the concerns of pensioners and accepted them as an input to the negotiations.
The NEC decided that the following letter, which clearly sets out our stance in relation to pensions, would be issued to the CEO of the ESB, the Superannuation Committee, the Trustees of the Fund and the Group of Unions :-
Dear Sirs,
We wish to bring to your attention the serious concerns and alarm of ESB pensioners regarding the attempts to deny us our legitimate expectation to pensions based on the gross remuneration for the job/position we retired from.
Existing pensioners retired with the legitimate expectation that our pensions would be linked ad infinitum to the gross pay for the job/position we retired from. This legitimate expectation is grounded in legislation, custom and practice, letters of clarification regarding pensions issued to individuals, categories and the Group of Unions and explanatory material issued by ESB regarding the operation of pensions in ESB.
Pensioners have also relied on the belief that ESB’s track record as a good progressive and caring employer would continue into the future.
Pensioners, now at the most vulnerable time in their lives are deeply concerned and alarmed at recent and current events aimed at denying/diluting our legitimate expectations particularly over the following:
The introduction, over the past number of years, of non-superannuable reward for current staff is a major concern for pensioners because it dilutes existing custom and practice and denies us our legitimate expectation to pensions linked to gross pay for the job/position we retired from.
Furthermore while current staff members may be in a position to use their non-superannuable income to purchase supplementary private pension arrangements this option is not open to pensioners. Therefore current pensioners are potentially worse off than future pensioners.
The introduction of different types of pension schemes into ESB is also a source of concern to existing pensioners as it may raise issues of relative deprivation among new staff. This will lead to dilution of the common interest and common purpose between staff and pensioners that has existed heretofore.
These changes have led to a situation where negotiation on remuneration and pensions for existing staff have become more complex and where the interests of pensioners may be diverging from those of existing staff. We are concerned that we have no forum in which to express our concerns.
In order to address our concerns we require:
- A return to the status quo pre the Pact Agreement where our pensions were based on the gross pay for the job/position we retired from.
- A forum where we can outline our concerns and input to discussions on issues that are likely to affect our pensions
We look forward to a favourable early response.
Hon. Secretary, ESB Retired Staff Association
SOCIAL EVENT Following the successful outing to Belfast in June 2008, Mary Kenny organised another one for 30th June 2009. The venue this time was Kilkenny. Details were made known through the Blog site.
BREAKING NEWS We have received a reply to our letter above signed on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer. This reply is being carefully reviewed and will be pursued actively.
Please keep in touch with developments by logging on to our Blog site www.superann2u2.com. Please also use the Blog site to communicate your views and comments. You can also get in touch via Email address : superann2u2@gmail.com
On behalf of the Committee BILLY KELLY, CHAIRMAN.
When will the reply to our letter re cutting pensions from the board be printed? It is a matter of great concern to me.
Comment by Tony Kelly — September 12, 2009 @ 5:13 pm