President's Message

First, it is very important to recognize the immense contributions of Stan Cunningham and Datta Pillay. Without downplaying the contributions of all those who have worked on behalf of retirees in the past, Stan and Datta were the prime movers in bringing WURA to its present situation; officially recognized by the Faculty Association as representative of the retirees, membership on the Executive, Council and Contract Committee of the Faculty Association, jump started the D7 committee which had not met since its formation in 1984, and generally moved WURA to a position where it cannot be ignored. Thank you Stan and Datta. I also wish to thank Bob Chandler and Ray Hermiston on providing us with ways of communicating to the membership.

However, we must also face a basic reality, we have no power except moral suasion, loudness of our voices, and consistent and persistent lobbying. We are represented by others in the arenas where the real decisions are made, the negotiating team and the sub-committee of the Board of Governors on pension matters. At the same time, your executive is working to establish courses of action that, hopefully, will lead to small changes in our pensions and benefits. One of the primary goals is to establish relations with the various constituencies within the university who impact upon retirees issues.

With this in mind I have had meetings with the President, Dr. Paul, the Vice-President Academic, Dr. Gold, the Vice-President of Adminiistration and Finance, Mr. Harbottle, and the President of the Faculty Association, Prof. Brown. Many of you who know me will be aware of my caution in accepting what administrators say. You will, therefore, be surprised at my belief that the Administration is seriously concerned about the plight of the retirees - of course, actions speak louder than words. With respect to the Faculty Association, I do believe that they, too, are concerned about the retirees. However, with respect to action, the onus is upon us to propose courses of action. In concrete terms those actions will focus on the D7 Committee and the Trust Fund, the avenues for any real changes. Both these committees report back to the Pension and Benefits Committee of the Faculty Association. Our representatives on that committee are John Meyer, Don. Briggs and Gordon Olafson.

We have not limited our activities to pensions and benefits. A committee has been formed to prepare proposals on the involvement of retirees in university life. We hope to present proposals to the Vice-President Academic early in 2002. As a result of a meeting between Dr. Paul, Prof. Brown and myself the President established a committee to organize the University and Faculty Association banquet to honor retiring members of the University community. It is hoped to bring the retirees, who during the past few years have held their annual dinner at St. Clair COllege, back into the univesity and allow them to celebrate (or mourn) the retirement of their colleagues with whom many of us have worked for many years. Gord Olafson and I represent WURA on this committee.

Finally, I urge all retirees to communicate their ideas and concerns to any member of the executive or share them with the membership on the two computer outlets. We are here to serve you in any way that we can. Remember WURA does represent your interests.

Alan Metcalfe

University confers

Honorary Doctor of Civil Laws on

Professor Emeritus John Whiteside

At the fall convocation, an Honorary Doctor of Civil Laws was bestowed upon one of the founders of the University of Windsor and stalwart educators in the Faculty of Law, Professor John Whiteside. - See page 9