Pat Isaak

Unanimous Support of Presidents Appreciated!
 
It’s been quite a month!
 
May is traditionally a busy time at MTS.  Our Annual General Meeting, the culmination of months of preparation, took place earlier this month.  Like every year, the 300 delegates passed a budget for the upcoming year, dealt with numerous resolutions and reports, received an update on the position of our pension plan and elected the teachers who will represent us in the year to come.  But that isn’t all that has been going on!
 
As everyone knows by now, there has also been a plebiscite going on over the last few weeks.  Organized by BDO Dunwoody and using the TRAF data base, it involved a yes or no vote on the implementation of the Sale Report – a report that grew out of discussions between government, MTS and RTAM.
 
MTS took an active role in the difficult and contentious discussions that led to the Sale Report.  In the end, our role is to consider all sides of an issue and to make a recommendation to our members – which we did.  We concluded that it was in the best interests of all members of our pension plan, active and retired, to support the report's conclusions.  And that was the recommendation we made. 
 
We did more though.  We mailed out thousands of copies of the Sale Report and made sure people could get access to it online.  We wanted people to have a chance to read the report for themselves and make up their own minds.  We also met with teachers in their schools and within their local associations and did everything we could to answer their questions and concerns. 
 
And what have we learned from this process?  We’ve learned that no matter how busy teachers are, they really care about their pension plan and their input is invaluable.  We also confirmed something that we’ve known for a long time - that the work of local association presidents is crucial. 
 
The April meeting of local association presidents voted unanimously to support the implementation of the Sale Report.  Many presidents went even further.  Working within their local organization they did everything in their power to support the Society’s position and encourage their members to get out and vote yes. 
 
As of now we don’t have the outcome of the plebiscite.  Nor do we know what government will do with the results.  The Society remains committed however to the achievement of two goals:  The protection of the basic benefit that is paid to retired teachers and will be paid active teachers.  And the provision of an improved and affordable COLA.  The Sale Report may not give everyone everything they want, but it is a good step toward both goals.

For an update on the results of the vote check out mbteach.org.

Have a safe and restful summer!