Former CBC employees decry pension cut

A group of disgruntled pensioners of the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) say they are considering their next move after learning that their monthly pensions have been reduced.

The former employees, numbering about 20, met recently at Brandons Beach to discuss what they described as an unexpected and distressing development. At the centre of the issue is Government’s decision to treat them as civil servants following its takeover of the collapsed CBC private pension plan.

Spokesperson for the group, Rosemary Alleyne, a retired veteran broadcaster, said the group was shocked when letters from the Treasury informed them that their pensions would be abated.

“Most of us were accustomed to getting a particular pension from the CBC but since Government has taken over paying that pension from ICBL, which is a private pension, we received letters from the Treasury basically saying that our pensions would be abated, which was a shock to all of us,” she said.

Alleyne explained that many of the retirees had already experienced one abatement when their pensions were initially calculated in conjunction with payments from the National Insurance Scheme (NIS). However, after Government assumed responsibility for the private pension fund last March, they were informed in January this year that their pensions would be reduced again.

“Our pensions have already been abated and this now will be a second abatement,” Alleyne shared. “Because the CBC private pension collapsed and Government took it over, Government is saying to us now that they are treating us as civil servants, which means that we would be subject to this particular pension that speaks to joining the civil service,” she added.

The retirees strongly rejected that classification. “We were never civil servants . . . . So how come, in my case, eight years later [post-retirement] that I am a civil servant? So I am to be disadvantaged by a second abatement of my pension?” Alleyne asked.

She said the reclassification came as a surprise to many, with some pensioners initially not even understanding the meaning of the letter they received.

“Last month is when all of us were informed that we were being treated as civil servants. So surprise, surprise to everybody,” she said. “People didn’t even know what the letter meant. Some people said abatement means that it’s finished. But we did not understand that our pensions are abated again.”

According to Alleyne, the reductions are significant. In some cases, retirees are losing between $1 500 and $1 600 per month. She pointed to one pensioner, now 83 years old, who left CBC in 2003 and is facing a cut of more than $1 500 some 23 years later.

Beyond the pension cuts, Alleyne said there were other outstanding financial matters, including adjustments related to back pay issued three years ago. She argued that such payments should have triggered corresponding adjustments to pensions and gratuities.

“What is injurious in all of this is that the CBC is not talking to us about these things. They’re not speaking to us,” she stated, noting that many of the retirees had given 30 to 40 years of service to the institution.

“Frustration is coming because you cannot get any information from CBC. CBC is not talking to us,” she continued.

Although the group had not yet decided on a definitive course of action, Alleyne made it clear they did not intend to let the matter rest.

“I can assure you that something is going to be done,” she confirmed.

(DDS)

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