Group decries autoworker pension bailout

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business urged the provincial government of Ontario Friday not to shore up General Motors’ pension fund.

In a letter sent to provincial Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, the CFIB said it would be unfair to put public funds into the pension fund if GM were to go bankrupt.

Guaranteeing pension plans exposes them to future financial risks and creates a disincentive for the plans to be cost-effectively managed, the letter said. CFIB strongly opposes your government’s inclination to use the taxpayer as the default go-to mechanism for covering pension shortfalls.

The federation, which has some 42,000 small and medium-sized business owners, discouraged the Liberal provincial government from trying to remedy a situation it didn’t create.

It must be noted, however, that management and the union should bear responsibility for the predicament they placed their employees/members in, the letter said. In this case, (the Canadian Auto Workers union) has heightened expectations among their members for having generous and protected pensions, which become unrealistic during hard economic times.

There was no immediate response from the government.