Past Sears Canada employees are petitioning the Senate to pass a pension bill which would protect retiree benefits in bankruptcy settlements, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. .“Who the hell is going to hire a 73-year-old guy?” said one Sears petitioner forced to return to work due to loss of pension benefits in a petition to the Senate Banking Committee. .“I can only stay on my feet for so many hours.” .Petitioners said reforms are too late for Sears workers, but they would help others. .Bill C-228 would give preference to pensioners as creditors in bankruptcy proceedings. Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu (Sarnia-Lambton), who sponsored the bill, said it was prompted by the plight of a neighbour hurt by Sears closing down in 2017. .“She had worked at Sears for 30 years and was really happy about being able to retire and then ended up receiving 70 cents on the dollar,” said Gladu. .Sears Canada paid more than $3 billion in dividends to shareholders, even as it was operating at a loss. Its pension plan was underfunded by $113 million. .The House of Commons passed the bill by unanimous vote in November. It is waiting on third reading in the Senate. .The Sears Canada Retiree Group said unfunded liabilities in defined benefit plans should be treated as loans from workers to the company. .It asked if Canadian banks should “receive greater protection than vulnerable seniors.” It said the answer should be no..The Sears Canada Retiree Group said the Senate needs to pass Bill C-228. .“The bill is not going to help any Sears pensioners, that is understood, but this committee and your Senate colleagues have the opportunity to help the next group of pensioners caught up with a company that is insolvent,” it said..“If Bill C-228 fails to pass the Senate, will you be comfortable explaining why you left them with less protection than banks?” .Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole said in 2021 a Conservative cabinet would rework federal law to give preference to pensioners in bankruptcy court settlements. .READ MORE: Tories hope to come to the aid of pensioners.O’Toole sympathized with pension workers, saying “far too often we’ve seen workers through no fault of their own forced to take big cuts to their pension when the company they work for goes bankrupt.” He said this needs to change. .He went on to say he hopes to target executives to prevent them from “paying themselves large bonuses while managing a company going through restructuring if the pension isn’t properly funded.”
