3 minute read
President’s Message
Rosalie Bornn
RTAM President 2017-2018
RETIRED TEACHERS’
ASSOCIATION OF MANITOBA
Hello, KIT Readers! As I finish this report for the SPRING 2018 KIT on a mid February bright and sunny Manitoba morning, it is -31 C outdoors with a windchill of -41 C. Hopefully, by the time that you actually receive this KIT, springlike weather will follow shortly. - The current edition of KIT contains significant information regarding the RTAM May 2018 Annual General Meeting. Please read carefully and consider attending the AGM, putting your name forward for a position on the board of directors, volunteering for service on one of RTAM’s standing committees and/or nominating a deserving RTAM member that you know for a Distinguished Service Award. RTAM is always much more effective with input and feedback from its membership. It is the intention of RTAM to have significant AGM 2018 materials posted on the website in advance of the May 9, 2018 date, so that members registered for AGM will have improved advance access to pertinent information. - Pre-AGM 2018 materials have also been sent to chapter presidents and to the website for posting. RTAM encourages its members with appropriate skill sets, interest and adequate personal time to please consider serving on the Board of Directors or a Standing Committee for a term. Reminder: according to our existing documents, all board and committee terms are of one-year in duration. We especially require new board and committee representation from Winnipeg-area members, in order to keep a rural/urban input balance going forward. Early registrations are most appreciated by RTAM in order to facilitate planning. - The process of developing a submission to the Pension Benefits
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President's Message . . . (Continued from page 3)
Act Review, as was delegated to the Pension and Political Advocacy Committees at the January meeting, has been a challenging, yet interesting, endeavour. It has also proven to be a really valuable lesson for RTAM in information sharing between other stakeholder labour and pension groups, as well as other sources of background information. Thank you to all participating directors for their work and input on this project. RTAM was able to collaborate with The Manitoba Teachers’ Society to send a joint document submission in response to the preliminary recommendations of the Pension Benefits Act Review Commission. - I had asked for and had received permission for RTAM directors to attend with observer status a series of MTS regional meetings, for the purpose of information sharing. Thank you to the RTAM directors who attended these meetings in Brandon, Portage, Winnipeg and Thompson. RTAM sincerely appreciates the ongoing collaboration with The Manitoba Teachers’ Society. - The Government has suddenly announced that their retired teacher appointee on the TRAF board has been replaced by a non- retired teacher appointee with no prior consultation with RTAM. This is an unfortunate, yet not unexpected turn of events. - At this time, there is no additional news to report on the TRAF recommendation to the disbursal of the Restricted Surplus Fund of the Pension Adjustment Account that was accumulated through the 10-year period of Bill 45 legislation. The understanding is that the disbursal matter is still in the hands of the Treasury Board. We will post update information on the website when it is received. - RTAM will host another Meet and Greet event with members of the Manitoba legislature on April 10, 2018. The Political Advocacy Committee, with support from the RTAM office, is coordinating this endeavour. - This RTAM operational year is moving forward with direction and centring from a Strategic Plan for the first time. The process is truly a learning process and is being evaluated as it unfolds. n
