Due to the length of our layoffs this year, CAMI is being required by the Employment Standards Act (ESA) to offer an election to anyone who has been laid off for 35 weeks or more in a 52-week period, to terminate employment and take their ESA termination and Severance pay. The current rotating layoffs continue to add to your respective totals.

We have been able to secure the ability to allow anyone who is retirement eligible to take their ESA payments and also take early or normal retirement under the CAMI Pension Plan.

If you have had 35 weeks of layoff in the previous 52 and;

  • Are retirement eligible you can now choose to retire and take your ESA payments as a bonus.
  • Are not retirement eligible you can elect to take your termination and severance pay based upon ESA payment rules. This will sever your ties to CAMI and end any recall rights.

For easy math, if you have 26 years of service, combining the Severance pay and Termination Pay would equal approximately $50,000. This will have no effect on your pension or benefits once you retire.  If you’re a former SWE, your SWE years are included in your years of service for the calculation amount, if uninterrupted.

We are going to be going down next year for re-tooling and, if appropriate, we will be arguing Letter 14 and for buyouts for our members. The company is informing us that they intend to eventually have our members all back to work.

If you are thinking of retiring you can get close to $50,000 now as a bonus payment or wait until next fall and take a chance that we will be successful in our Letter 14 arguments.

Your respective reps will have your number of weeks laid off by next week.  We strongly advise anyone wanting to take the retirement option, please contact your rep and/or the benefit reps to explain this in detail.  The company have notified us they have already called close to 500 members; however, the retirement option has been secured and now has no effect on your pensions and this may be an option for many, including those that have previously declined.

Please give us until Monday, November 15 to get the information and forms ready.