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Essar Steel Algoma retirees denied millions in pension payments-The 17th China(Guangzhou )Int¡¯l Casting product Exhibition
1/26/2016 Casting product expo |
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Soo Today reported that in a blow to Essar Steel Algoma retirees, insisting he''s sympathetic to thousands of Essar Steel Algoma retirees, a Toronto judge has nonetheless told the steelmaker it no longer has to make $3.38 million in special payments owed each month to its pension plans.
Justice Frank Newbould of the Ontario Superior Court said ¡°I have sympathy for the employees and in particular for the retirees, who are the most vulnerable. There is little doubt that Essar Steel Algoma and related companies do not have sufficient cash resources to make these special payments. Payment to the three defined benefit pension plans may be delayed until the steelmaker emerges from insolvency proceedings.¡±
He ordered ¡°Essar Steel Algoma needs the certainty of not being subject to having to make the special payments if a request is made in the future. Any such uncertainty would be detrimental to the sales and investment solicitation process (SISP) to be undertaken. A successful SISP is in the interests of all stakeholders including the United Steelworkers and the retirees."
"The United Steelworkers, on behalf of the current employees, will have a seat at the table with interested lenders or buyers in the [SISP search for a new owner or major investor]. It will be an important seat. However, the plight of the retirees is different, and there is not the same economic interest in any lender or buyer in satisfying their concerns as there would be with the United Steelworkers and the current employees."
Last month, Justice Newbould approved $3.47 million in bonuses to 23 Essar Steel Algoma executives to ensure they stay with the company during its current restructuring under the Companies'' Creditors Arrangement Act, ordering that the names of the executives be kept secret in a sealed court file.
-The 17th China(Guangzhou
)Int¡¯l Casting product Exhibition
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