Nortel pensioners rally to protest the handling of their pension funds by the Ontario government at Queen's Park in Toronto.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
Premier Dalton McGuinty says he'll take a second look at the plight of Nortel pensioners - just days after his government slammed the door on a request to rethink the pension plan's fate.
The workers don't want their plan wound-up and the $2.5-billion in pension assets used to buy annuities that would provide them with a steady income, which is the normal practice when companies go bankrupt.
They say that would simply lock in the losses for the plan, currently estimated to be funded at only two-thirds of its liabilities.
The workers want to let a private financial services company manage their pension assets.
Mr. McGuinty met with some Nortel workers late last week and told the legislature today he had agreed to give their proposal a second look.
In rejecting the idea last week, the government said the plan from the Nortel retirees would expose them to greater risks because of a "high degree of exposure to the equity markets."