Alberta judge halts move by trustees of a pension and health plan to seize control over their own appointment process
July 15, 2024
An Alberta judge has halted a move by trustees of a pension and health plan to seize control over their own appointment process. Two locals of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and a plan member launched the summary judgment application against several current and former trustees after a series of amendments to the trust agreements governing the plans — made largely in 2021 and 2022 — that excluded both the union and their members’ employers from any role in the appointment or removal of trustees.
The amendments included provisions removing the definitions for union and employer trustees, eliminating the requirement that union trustees be members in good standing, as well as the addition of a requirement that the board approve all trustee appointments. Another amendment asserted the fund’s intention to maintain complete independence from the union.
The judge hearing the case sided with the union, invalidating many of the recent amendments after concluding that the trustees had exceeded their authority and had violated a fundamental feature of the original 1975 trust agreements, which provided for the equality of trustee appointments by the unions and employers in the administration of the funds.
Click the link below to read the decision:
