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PIPSC Vice-President Shannon Bittman said, in a report, that federal unions should “keep close tabs” on the fund to ensure the “government doesn’t amend the legislation” to allow them to claim the surplus.

“It’s always been a concern that the government would see that surplus and view it as a source of revenue, “ Bittman said in an interview, just as the Chrétien government did when it claimed the $30-billion surplus in the pension fund 15 years ago.

The legislation governing the death benefit account does not describe what to do with a surplus. Robyn Benson, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said the government should work with unions and retirees before taking any action on the surplus. The account is almost entirely funded by employees and pensioners.

The benefit, which is like life insurance, is compulsory for public servants in the pension plan but they can opt out after they retire.

Public servants pay about 15 cents a month per $1,000 coverage in annual premiums and beneficiaries are entitled to two times their salaries until they hit age 65. That means someone earning a $100,000 salary can leave a beneficiary a $200,000 payment upon death, if it is before age 65.

The older public servants are when they die, however, the smaller the benefit. After 65, the payment is reduced 10 per cent a year until the age 75 when the payment falls to a flat $10,000.

The death benefit is paid over and above survivors’ pensions to which families of public servants are also entitled.