President's Message

Bill Cann

RTAM President 2020 - 2021

RETIRED TEACHERS’

ASSOCIATION OF MANITOBA

Photo by Linda Boughton RTAM Photo Contest Entry Summer 2020

There have been several important developments since the Winter issue of KIT. I remain indebted to the Executive Officers, Executive Director, office staff, individual directors, standing committee members and chapter presidents for their valued assistance in successfully addressing emergent issues and moving our organization ahead.

The RTAM Executive continued to develop closer ties with the Manitoba Teachers’ Society (MTS) and the Manitoba School Boards Association (MSBA). During December we participated in Zoom meetings involving both organizations concerning improving working conditions for substitute teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic and advertising the application process for Manitoba’s new Remote Learning Support Center. On January 12, the third MTS-RTAM Liaison meeting was held via Zoom. The meeting focused on Pension related issues as well as RTAM’s new First Year Free membership initiative and the MTS Recommendations on the K-12 Review. The fourth MTS-RTAM Liaison meeting is scheduled for March 25th. The RTAM President has also been invited to make an unprecedented presentation to the MTS Presidents’ Council on March 25, 2021. The focus of this presentation will be RTAM’s new Free First Year Membership Initiative for retiring teachers and the benefit of joining RTAM to access our superior Prestige Travel Insurance.

In December, 2020, the RTAM President, Vice President and Executive Director successfully completed negotiations with TRAF executive officers to improve the Pension Application form and to introduce a Free First Year Membership recruitment initiative for new retirees effective January 01, 2021. To provide additional support for TRAF pension counsellors, the RTAM President and Vice President completed a revision to the Why Join RTAM - Talking Points and forwarded it to TRAF. The Talking Points will facilitate TRAF staff in explaining the benefits of joining RTAM to new retirees as well as being posted on the RTAM website and used in future Pre-Retirement seminars. On February 05, 2021, TRAF Vice President, Brad Prokop and RTAM representatives agreed on the final details of administering the new Free First Year Membership program, additional statistical reports to measure the success of this program and the possible provision of maiden name information to supplement RTAM’s In Memoriam.

The revisions to the Benefits at a Glance document, along with a shorter version, have been completed and will be used to supplement the Free First Year Membership initiative as recruiting tools with active teachers considering retirement. The Benefits at a Glance chart compares the three Group Insurance plans available to retired teachers in Manitoba: RTAM (Johnson), MTS (Blue Cross) and WTA (Manulife). Along with the Why Join RTAM - Talking Points and the Free First year membership, these recruitment tools will be used for future

Pre-Retirement seminars, posted on the website, shared with Chapter Presidents and published in KIT.

Since September, 2020, the Executive has been studying possible solutions to the Succession/ Leadership Crisis. Current Policy 6.04 (b) limits directors to five years of continuous service and would require 12 of the existing 15 Directors to retire in May 2022. As part of the solution, on January 14, 2021, the RTAM Executive and Chapter Presidents approved a proposal to establish a six-year rotation of responsibility to recruit new members to serve on RTAM committees for up to two-years. Committee members who decide thereafter to stand for election as an RTAM Director, will also be guaranteed that they will not have to chair a committee during their first year on the Board. Other solutions include current directors recruiting new committee members by May 2021 and possible amendments to the current Policy. Finally, I would like to encourage all RTAM members to consider volunteering to serve on a Standing Committee or the Board of Directors. The leadership of RTAM and its future direction rests in your hands.

The president is conducting Zoom meetings with Chapter Presidents every two months. Chapter Presidents, including those from other provinces, continue to express appreciation for the ability to virtually participate in RTAM affairs. It is generally agreed that this has been one of the few silver linings in the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, the convenience of participating from home without having to invest travel time has considerably enhanced the role of Chapter Presidents in providing effective input into the running of RTAM.

The results of the Email contest are somewhat disappointing: 120 new email addresses, 443 updated emails and 26 from individuals who are not currently RTAM members. Our primary goal was to get responses from some 3,500 RTAM members for whom the Office does not have an email address. Moving forward, I believe that while RTAM should continue to encourage members to submit their current email address, further financial incentives are unlikely to yield better results.

On January 21, 2021, I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, Premier and other federal and provincial politicians. The letter requested the federal government to place “for-profit” Long Term Care Facilities under the Canada Health Act. Letters congratulating new Manitoba Government cabinet ministers have been sent as well as letters requesting a renewal of annual meetings with the Minister of Education, the Leader of the NDP and the Leader of the Liberal party.

Improvements to the RTAM website are being made almost on a daily basis. These efforts make it easier for visitors to find relevant and current information quickly. Moreover, tracking statistics from the last quarter of 2020 indicate continuously increased usage. My letter to the Prime Minister on RTAM’s position concerning Long Term Care Facilities has been posted as a banner. The RTAM President initiated two additional postings detailing our Group Insurance programs and a new link to the Manitoba Government COVID-19 Vaccine website. The Office Manager is looking into acquiring a YouTube TV channel to store recorded RTAM webinars and interviews.

I have established five criteria for Presidential approval of information to be posted on the RTAM website and/or printed in KIT as well as governing presidential actions. These criteria are applied both in order of priority and collectively. The criteria are: 1. Relevance to RTAM, 2. Provincial scope, 3. Relevance to Seniors (Older Adults), 4. Current information, and 5. Emergent Issue.

The Executive approved in principle that the AGM will be held by Zoom on May 5, 2021.

As part of our new Governance model, the Executive approved, in principle, the transfer of Operational Responsibilities from the KIT Editor to the RTAM Office staff.

The President, Executive Director and appropriate Directors are in the process of negotiating a contract with Blue Ink Media for website services and the printing of KIT.

I look forward to seeing many of you on Zoom at our AGM. §