Dear Editor
Canadian workers have celebrated their achievements on Labour Day ever since it was declared a national holiday in 1894.
This year the focus of the North Battleford and District Labour Council is on retirement security.
Most Canadians cannot save enough to live with dignity in retirement. Sixty per cent of workers have no workplace pension at all. The labour movement, along with retiree and community groups, is calling for a gradual doubling of future Canadian Pension Plan benefits.
A modest increase in contributions will produce thousands of dollars a year in extra benefits for workers when they retire. This represents first-rate retirement savings at a low cost for the 93 per cent of Canadian workers already covered by CPP.
The CPP is safe, secure and indexed and its management costs are lower than those charged by private financial service institutions on RRSPs.
Our campaign is paying off. The country's finance ministers now agree the best way to help Canadians save more for retirement is through the CPP, and mayors and municipal councillors have also called for improvements to the CPP. We have to keep the pressure on our polititians.
There is no longer any excuse for dealying improvments to the CPP. Let's get the job done.
N. Nykiforuk
North Battleford & District Labour Council
