BIOGRAPHY
Richard Alarie has served several terms on the Provincial Executive and is seeking the privilege of another term to serve the teachers of Manitoba.
While on Executive, Richard has served our members on the SAG Council, the Pensions Task Force, the Joint Personnel Committee, Project Overseas, CUPE negotiations, Disability Investment Committee, Disability Committee and Task Force on Teacher Workload. He has been liaison for the Interlake region.
As an executive member, the greatest satisfaction that Richard finds is the people that he meets. Working conditions can vary quite substantially from one division to the other and sometimes even within the same division. Richard believes passionately on the necessity that teachers, wherever they may be, be treated as professionals.
Richard has been involved in his local association, the AÉFM, since its foundation in 1994. The AÉFM is proud to nominate Richard for Provincial Executive He has been President for the past two years and over the years has been on the Collective Bargaining Committee, Chairperson of the Public Relations Committee and school representative. Richard worked hard to finally obtain a comprehensive Harassment Article to the AÉFM Collective Agreement. This was obtained in arbitration in August 2007.
As an educator, Richard has had the opportunity to teach from Kindergarten to S4, in rural and urban schools, throughout Manitoba and Canada and in a number of countries including Mali, Bolivia and Nepal. Richard is a published author of two children’s books and in November 2002 has had a theatrical adaptation of his work presented to the public for three weeks. He continues to jog regularly and enjoys playing hockey with his children. Originally from Ste-Agathe, he presently resides in Winnipeg with his wife Danielle and their beloved children, Luc, Eric and Myriam.
ELECTION STATEMENT
Hello. I am seeking your support for another term on Provincial Executive.
The Society has been successful on a number of fronts in dealing with Pension Issues, Collective Agreements and the recognition that substitutes are indeed members of our Society. We have made a number of inroads in the majority of Collective Agreements to bridge the gap, in real terms, from what our salaries were in 1982. After all the progress we have done over the last decade, we are still being paid less, after inflation, than we were in 1982. We must continue to negotiate hard to eliminate this inequity.
Teachers continue to work arduously for their students. I am always impressed at the hours and commitment that our members, under sometimes trying circumstances, devote to our profession. With the work I have been involved in the Task Force, our members tell us they are burdened with excessive demands, more and more responsibilities and less and less time to do it all. It is imperative that we work and lobby our employers and government to implement changes in our working conditions!
For me, it is important that all our members feel they belong to the Manitoba Teachers’ Society; at this time, I know this is not the case. It is essential that our members have an opportunity to express themselves in how we can better represent them; we can always improve. Over the past 2 years, I have never been afraid to defend what I believe is right and to argue for what is best for the teachers of Manitoba. It has not always been popular but I have always done what I thought was right.
I have enjoyed the opportunity to work on your behalf and if it is your wish, I will continue to work energetically and collaboratively for the benefits of all of our members.
