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Wajax Pension Surplus Challenge Update

It has been some time since we have given you a progress report on our claim to our Pension Surplus, but that does not mean nothing has been happening - quite the contrary.

So many of you have complied with our requests for documentation that we have boxes and boxes of files which our lawyers have been examining, analyzing and documenting for our case.  In addition we have intentionally delayed proceeding with the lawsuit because there are quite a few similar cases to ours going through the courts, which could be considered precedent-setting to our action. (By the way, in almost every completed case the judges have sided with the employees).

One special case we have been following is Monsanto vs their employees, where the employees won the Lower Court case but the company appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal. Just last week the Appeal court also sided with the employees! Each of these judgments strengthens our case.

On November 28th our lawyer Dwight Harbottle and Gordon Donaldson traveled to Toronto from Vancouver, and with our eastern committee representatives Messrs Cunningham and Wilson spent the whole day in meeting with the appropriate people at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (the Government  Department that administers pensions) and examining Wajax documents in their files.  Needless to say, the findings must remain confidential as we do not want to prejudice our case, but we can say that the information obtained solidified the belief that we have a solid case.

On November 29th again in Toronto, Messrs Donaldson and Cunningham met with employees and pensioners representing Wajax Pension Plan members from all across Canada. This meeting was to discuss the case and clarify some of the questions that have arisen as follows:

1. How much will our lawsuit be for?

 We expect it to be in the range of 25 to 30 million dollars: the surplus of $16 million admitted by Wajax, added to which we will contend that Wajax owes contributions of $10 or more million from 1986 onwards (because they took a contribution holiday with no corresponding relief to the employees), with all amounts claimed bearing interest from the conversion date forward.

2. Who is eligible to share any award we obtain?
N.B. (a change from earlier advice)

It seems that in all successful prior cases everyone who was a member of the PLAN when surpluses were generated, is entitled to compensation. Thus the following would have entitlement:

- anyone who was an employee of Wajax and a member of the plan when the surplus developed (we think 1986 but possibly as early as 1983) therefore anybody who was a member during any part of this period would be eligible even if he/she left the company and withdrew his/her contributions. Of course pensioners, deferred pensioners and employees who were members of the plan on December 31, 2000 would also be included.

3. Where do we go next?

We are now ready to begin the lawsuit. Our lawyers have prepared the Statement of Claim and will be instituting legal proceedings within the next couple of weeks.

4. How much would I get?

This is difficult to answer. While we know the conversion values for those who were forced out of the Defined Benefit plan when it was converted on December 31, 2000 and the pension values of the pensioners, we do not know the value of the contributions withdrawn by those who left the PLAN, prior to that date.

However, a very rough estimate would be as follows:

If we were awarded, say, $16 Million we should have sufficient funds to give everyone a 25% increase in conversion value:

Example: If the conversion value that Wajax gave you on December 31, 2000 was:

 -  $400,000.* you would get $100,000 after lawyers’ contingency fee (see below).
 -  $100,000.* you would get $25,000 after fee.
 -  $50,000.* you would get $12,500 after fee.

Pensioners would get a 25% increase.

Those who withdrew from the plan before it was “converted” would get 25% of their withdrawal amount.

* Not ridiculously high as we estimate that well over 100 members had a conversion value between $100,000 and $500,000.

5. Who will pay for this lawsuit?

The lawyers will take the case on a contingency basis (i.e. their fees will be paid from the settlement amount) but we will have to come up with some money for other expenses. We are presently working on a budget for this and in due course will be informing you of the amount needed.

In the meantime, we ask if each and every one of you would attempt to get as many of your fellow employees, ex-employees, retirees etc. who have not joined our campaign, to kindly do so.

I wish to Contribute  (click here)

Please make an appeal to as many people as you can to join us as it is important that we have as many supporters as possible.

We hope the above answers any questions you may have, if not give us a call.