Committee Highlights

RETIRED TEACHERS’

ASSOCIATION OF MANITOBA

Committee Highlights

Benefits Committee

Dave Najduch, Chair The Committee met from September through to December of 2021 to review and discuss each of the plans currently being provided for RTAM members. As a result, the fees for each plan were set and some changes to certain coverages took place. These were forwarded to the RTAM Board for consideration and approved.

The renewal is set to be sent out to members who are currently paying their premium through bank deduction in February. Those that are paying premiums through Pension deductions will not receive the renewal notice until March. The information will be sent out in the form of a letter from RTAM President Bill Cann outlining the fee structure and services that will be provided in the 2022-2023 year. If you are interested in looking at the changes, a copy of that letter is also included in this month’s edition of KIT for member information.

Benefits at a Glance / Reminder

If you visit the RTAM web site and click on “Members” at the top of the page, a drop-down menu which includes “Benefits at a Glance” will appear. When you click this heading a two-page table providing a comparison of the RTAM, MTS and WTA plans that are currently available will then appear. This document reflects the benefits and fees as they exist and will be updated in the months to come as new information is made available for the 2022-2023 year.

I would like to thank Jessica Simpson and the staff at Johnson for their efforts on behalf of the membership and, also thank the RTAM members who serve on the committee for their input and ongoing support.

Communications (KIT Editorial Committee)

Beth Smith, Chair The Board reviewed the process of how KIT is put together. Deadlines for KIT MUST be adhered to in order to get the magazine to the printer on time. If we miss our printer time, the magazine does not go out! All KIT submissions should be sent to kit@ rtam.mb.ca.

During our KIT committee meetings, we have been looking at some software that could help with the editing process.

Communications (Public Relations Committee)

Guy Hansen, Chair During recent meetings the committee reviewed/ considered the following:

• Debriefed the November 11th, 2021, wreath laying held in Birtle, MB and outlined possibilities for 2022. • Reviewed a letter submitted by a committee member on the advantages of being an RTAM member. • A motion by the Political Advocacy Committee to secure funding for the Indigenous Bursary through the University College of the North (UCN). • Strategize how to advance new membership

• Promote a Meet and Greet night at the Legislature. • Promote an AGM guest speaker.

Communications: Website Committee

Paul Harland, Chair

• The website committee met on December 6th, 2021, and January 10th, 2022.

• The Manitoba Teachers’ Society (MTS) and RTAM are discussing links to each other’s websites.

• We are pleased that the webpage is updated and that items seem to have stopped disappearing.

• An Instagram account has been created and we will be linking our Facebook and Instagram accounts to our webpage. Announcements will be posted onto our two social media accounts.

We are also looking at other ways to get members engaged in RTAM events and issues.

Executive Committee

Bill Cann, RTAM President • After researching a number of small Non-Profit organizations, the Executive is recommending two motions to formalize the contributions to

Employee Benefits and Pension plans.

• Jeff Norton, TRAF CEO, outlined a proposed legal agreement to formalize the relationship between our two organizations and warned RTAM that it could not depend on TRAF to provide the current level of services in perpetuity. • Michael Juce of Prairie Sky Strategy presented a proposal for political lobbying services to the

January 10th, 2022, Executive meeting. The Board approved hiring this firm to assist with lobbying efforts and strategy.

• The Executive and Board approved the hiring of a professional head-hunter firm to conduct the search for a new Executive Director.

Membership and Chapters Committee

Beth Smith, Chair • Chapter Initiative Grants (CIG) are available for

Chapter engagement. The amount of the grant is $250. The application form can be found on the

RTAM website, www.rtam.mb.ca. • A second Pre-Retirement Seminar was held via

Zoom on Saturday, November 20, 2021, with 21 participants. A third Pre-Retirement Seminar will be offered via Zoom, on Saturday, March 5, 2022, at 9:30 a.m.

Pension Committee

Alison Logan, Chair • The Pension Committee has had four meetings this year, with Jeff Norton and Brad Prokop, of

TRAF, attending two of them. In addition, they presented the Annual Briefing Session to the

Board in December 2021.

• The focus of Committee meetings has primarily been improving COLA and the pursuing of a designated seat at the TRAF Board for RTAM. Next page →

The Pension Committee remains steadfast in working toward improvements, including monitoring pertinent information. The following highlights may be of interest to retired teachers.

Canadian Defined Benefits pensions in stronger positions to withstand challenges ahead: reports • A report by consulting firm Mercer found that the pension plans were well-funded despite an uncertain end to the year.

• Sixty-one per cent of pension plans were in a surplus position at the end of the fourth quarter, compared with 53 per cent at the end of the third quarter.

• “As DB plans’ financial positions continue to improve, many plan sponsors are now finding themselves in the enviable position of having DB surpluses,” said

Ben Ukonga, principal and leader of Mercer’s wealth business in Calgary in a news release.

• While Omicron added uncertainty to end the year, equity markets continued their upward trajectories, said Nathan LaPierre, partner, wealth solutions, Aon.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2022. Free Press published Jan. 4, 2022.

Political Advocacy (PA) Committee

John Sushelnitsky, Chair • Liberal MLA Cindy Lamoureux gave first reading to a Private Member’s Bill proposing that RTAM be given a seat on the TRAF Board. This is not a new request on RTAM’s part. RTAM has been negotiating this issue with the leaders of

Manitoba political parties since 2005.

• A registered letter was sent to Premier Stefanson, requesting a meeting to discuss RTAM’s Five

Requests for Action.

• After a review of the points made at the Ad Hoc meeting to look at the long-term funding of the Indigenous Bursary, the Political Advocacy

Committee plans to propose a motion at the

RTAM AGM to ensure continuous funding for the Indigenous Bursary support through the

University College of the North (UCN). • The PA Committee also heard a presentation from the firm Prairie Sky as a possible support to RTAM’s efforts to obtain a seat at the TRAF pension table.

Student Success Portfolio Ad-hoc Committee

Joan Zaretsky, Chair • We are happy to see the interest growing in our project as we currently have 20 members and their sponsors participating in building portfolios.

KIT highlighted a number of Student Success

Portfolio articles which we believe led to the increased awareness and participation.

• Andrew Augustyn, our researcher, has reported on three interviews he completed and letters will be sent out mid-February for the remaining seven to complete the research required for our

Grant.

Wellness Advocacy Committee

Linda Blair, Chair • The committee met on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, and reviewed evaluation forms received after recent presentations and began planning for presentations to start the 2022-2023 term.

• The recent webinar presentations held were,

“Retirement Well-being”: held on Wednesday,

January 12, 2022, and “Decluttering” on Tuesday,

January 25, 2022.

The final online presentations for 2021-2022 are:

1. Prostate Cancer facilitated by Patrick Feschuk

Tuesday, February 22, 2022, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Deadline to register is Friday, February 18, 2022, at 12 noon. 2. Hard of Hearing facilitated by Rosalyn Sutley

Tuesday, March 22, 2022, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Deadline to register is Friday, March 18, 2022, at 12 noon.

We are now planning for the 2022-2023 term. Please submit any ideas for future presentations by emailing the RTAM office. n