Welcome to New Retirees

On Thursday, October 1, 1998 forty-nine(49) colleagues who retired in 1997(28) and 1998(21) were honoured at a luncheon by President Ross Paul and the President of the Faculty Association Dr. Gordon Drake(Dr. Don Laing substituting). This is a welcome invitation to everyone of them to join the Retirees Association for a nominal membership fees of $ 10 per year. This membership carries no obligation whatsoever, except collecting your dues. Please join the Association and give us the benefit of your advice and service if you can, to improve the cause of all Retirees. This year (September 1998) the number of Retirees on the mailing list is 250, which is more than half the current active faculty on campus. Our contributions and dedicated service to the institution on an average of 30 years does give us a respectable profile and we are a "force to be reckoned with" contrary to the view of some of my fellow retirees.

Pension Surplus - Contract Settlement 1998-2001

If you read the information provided on pages 4 to 8 it is obvious that Retirees Lose Out Again. Both in 1996 and 1998 Contract Negotiations, the Pension Surplus was $ 15.8 million ( 1996) and $ 22.6 million (1998) respectively, but the Retirees lost out in making a headway by getting a substantial portion of that surplus to which they are fully entitled to. The University and the Faculty Association in their bargaining process have done a great injustice by ignoring the Retirees case. Who do we blame for it? In my view, the Retirees Association leadership in the past eight years have neither asserted their position nor put up a good fight for a significant portion of that pension surplus, through the Faculty Association Benefits and Pension Committee. I have seen no evidence where a strong case was made for a fair and equitable distribution of the surplus. Further, those who were in a position to represent all Retirees seemed to have pursued a very narrow approach which benefited perhaps just a few colleagues, which is fair.

Grievance Launched Re Pension Surplus

A Group Grievance by some Retirees has been launched regarding the unfair distribution of the surplus. Let us hope that the Faculty Association will support and seek a satisfactory resolution.

Retirees Representation on Faculty Association Committees:

As a follow-up to the resolution adopted at the Spring General Meeting, President Kumar has written to the Faculty Association on such representation. We have the mandate from the membership to achieve our objectives of proper representation. But the Faculty Association has neither acknowledged our letter nor sent any communication about the disposition of our request in over four months. We will continue to follow it up.

Datta Pillay

The Association The Retirees' Association (Faculty, Librarian, Administrator) at Windsor was formed in 1990, to give a unified voice to retirees; to provide a bridge for communication with the University; to encourage social contact among the retirees; and to open a few doors through which retirees could continue to contribute to the University of Windsor. Thus the Association is meant to fill what could otherwise be a void in the lives of retirees - possible isolation from the University and from their former colleagues; and possible lack of understanding of vital pension and health issues that affect them directly. There are only two meetings of the full membership per year: in the spring and the fall. An informal social committee arranges several other events per year - dinners, plays, picnics, and so on -all of which are paid for by those who take part. The Association encourages smaller special interest groups to form as occasion and their interests warrant. Because of extreme economy of operation, dues have been kept at the level of $10 per year. This includes five issues of The Retirees' Newsletter . Officers of the Association are: President: Kumar Chatterjee Secretary: Datta Pillay Treasurer & Membership: To be appointed Elected Members of the Executive Committee: Bob Chandler;Gerard Monforton Joseph Habowsky, Terry Parkinson Ex Officio Members: Immediate Past President: Edwin Habib Founding President: Norm Shklov Committee Chairs: Social Committee: John LaGaipa Bursary Fund Committee: Cormac Smith The Association's Address is: Faculty/Librarian Retirees' Association, University of Windsor Post Office, Windsor, ON. N9B 3P4 Email: pillay@server.uwindsor.ca Home Page: http://www.uwindsor.ca/newsstnd/uwflra/index.html Newsletter online: http://www.uwindsor.ca/newsstnd/uwflra/news.htm

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