Ontario Teachers Pension Plan is Heartless

[carlitguy]

The Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan own a Long Term Care Facility here in Red Deer by the name of Symphony Aspen Ridge. My wife is a Alzheimer's patient at the facility. The facility is going on strike at 1:00 p.m. on January 25th. The OTPP wants a 30 to 40% profit on the operations and have not given the staff any raises for 5 years. That being said, the other day they gave out raises and one care giver who has been there 3 years got 10 cents per hour. The highest I heard of was 35 cents per hour. They might as well not have given anything.

Yesterday I got a call and the 44 patients in the facility are being evicted. We have one year to make other arrangements. The current waiting list is 18 months and as of today there are zero beds available within the 100 kilometre radius. There are no new facilities coming on stream for 18 months and only about 20 beds.

This cowardly act by the OTPP has caused a health care crisis. I sure wouldn't be bragging if I were an Ontario teacher. Is this any way to treat our loved ones?

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

The OTPP owns several large malls. The rent is so high that many of the stores are empty.

Got a link to that?

[pierrelebel]

"So many productive things that could be done rather than run old folks and their homes into the ground."

Owning and managing "old folks" homes is a great business to invest in, whether they are "retirement homes" or "nursing homes". 

Most are great long term investments, providing good cash flow and a decent return on capital. The problem here is the owners (teachers) not giving their employees a fair shake.

[toby_le_pue]

Seems like Teachers has its invisible hand everywhere. From Cadilliac Fairview (Eaton Center, Pacific Center), to Maple Leaf Sports, to Serta/Simmons, CTV.. it's amazing (in a good way).

And amidst all those investments, they still hold fixed income and other equities, for an average 9.6% vs. a benchmark of 7.5%. Wonder if I can hold some OTPP

[stevephinn2012]

So many productive things that could be done rather than run old folks and their homes into the ground.

Is that what happened to the leafs?   LOL

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Most are great long term investments, providing good cash flow and a decent return on capital. The problem here is the owners (teachers) not giving their employees a fair shake.

I'm wondering ......do people really believe that a teacher in some elementary school in 'Anytown' Canada actually knows that their organization owns a nursing home in some Province? I mean seriously!.........I know some people have something against teachers but this is a real stretch to blame teachers in general as if they are sitting at home at the kitchen table and laughing at the elderly. Gheesh!!

If someone is to blame and we knew the internal workings then it is more likely some group that is outsourced to run the nursing home. I personally know how several nursing homes in my area are run. I didn't until I had to find care for my mother-in-law and I did a lot of research and learned a lot and have kept that interest going since then.

One nursing home is one of five that one man in Toronto owns. Staff say he visits 'once' a year. The rest of the time it is managed by a manager who frankly is a tyrant in her own little kingdom. Because of her attitude and cost cutting she has lost several staff in the last year. Now what she tells the owner.....who knows! Does he even know the problems that exist? No one knows. It is highly possible that all he is interested in is the bottom line......profit. Everything else is handled by someone he probably feels is doing a good job. If he has a family.....should the children be blamed for their father's business dealings, especially if they have no idea of the specifics of what he invests in?

Now that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be more vigilant of what is going on in his investment.....he should  However to blame ‘teachers’ as individuals is just agenda fulfilling.

Oh......and the one truly good nursing home, with next to no staff turn over and all the staff present and past have nothing but good things to say about their employer.....that nursing home is owned by Mennonites and they are there....they run it....no absentee landlords in that location.  

[pierrelebel]

"as if they are sitting at home at the kitchen table and laughing at the elderly."

Talk about spinning a story!

There is no reason for the teachers not to give instructions to the managers of their pension plan as to where to invest (in general terms) and demonstrate some basic values in how to manage their investments and their staff.  To plead ignorance (from teachers no less) does not cut it.

There is no hidden agenda.  It is wrong for the owners of that specific "old age" home to treat their employees that way and you know it.

[almond_t]

Bright Bright must be contagious....

[almond_t]

OP, my sympathy to you and your family for the discouraging situation; it's so not right.

[pigdog47]

Dim Dim Mountebank mounted a banco, but was he a charlatan?

[toby_le_pue]

Responsible investing

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is a signatory to the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative (PRI).[13]

In general, Teachers' believes that companies that are well run, respect the environment, respect human and labour rights and operate within the law are good long-term investments.[14] The pension plan's investing activities are governed by the Ontario Pension Benefits Act,[15] which stipulates that employees of a pension plan have a fiduciary duty to take greater care wi...

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

I only went by what you said Pierre and how you worded it….. ” the owners (teachers) not giving their employees a fair shake.”

In saying that you included every teacher in Ontario. Not only do most teachers probably not know what is being invested, or where, but probably most have not even heard of this situation at the nursing home.

It is wrong for the owners of that specific "old age" home to treat their employees that way and you know it.

Did I say it was ok? Did I give any inference that I approved in any way? No to both. I will blame people when they know or should know, but you can’t paint everyone with the same brush. Do people who have investments with big Corporations that import everything from food to parts to clothing etc know where all those things are made and what the people are paid and what type of working conditions they have to work in? No! And yes maybe they should…….actually there is no maybe about it…….they should know.

Equally the teachers, all of them, should know where their investments are going and this may be a big wakeup call for them, but until now…..they didn’t know. They’re just average people out there going to work, teaching the kids, coming home, taking care of their own families and then doing it all over again. What they pay into their union or to others they trust to use the money wisely and do the right thing for them and in the way the money is used. If anyone can prove otherwise…..I’m interested in hearing it.

"Teachers' cannot select or exclude investments based solely on social or environmental factors or any other non-financial criteria."

Thanks toby.

[pigdog47]

"Is this any way to treat our loved ones?"

Dogs and cats are treated better.  I hope you will be able to somehow get your wife relocated to a decent facility that treats both the staff and the residents with respect and dignity.

[stevephinn2012]

seems weird that someone can claim that in this case the teachers did not know and were not expected to know exactly what their union was doing on their behalf but when it comes time for strike action and people mention that the teachers don't really know all the facts about what the union is doing on their behalf, that that exact same person will come on here and tell you that every teacher knows exactly what the union is doing and voted for the union to be doing exactly what they are doing. I guess it all depends on who, what and where they are doing it?

oh ya and what side of the story will stir the pot a bit better!

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Where all the countless investments are going, is not common knowledge. Only faux-tax people would not know that.

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

I felt the same way.

[dipmicro]

OP my sympathy to you as well !

Bottom line is unions are as much capitalists as people they keep opposing and liberals become conservative when it comes to their own money. What's yours is mine and what's mine is NOYB.