Discussions

The NDP Government commissioned the “Sale Report”, and Mr. Sale who wrote it is a former NDP minister, how could this be construed as a fair and non-biased Report? This Report contains many errors, and recommends a huge reduction in Pension Benefits that have been paid for by Retired Teachers.  
 
It offers no guarantee that anything will ever be paid to them as a cost of living allowance, and the Report also recommends a ten-year moratorium on further discussion or change. The average age of the present living Retired Teachers must be 75 years old. Our Brandon Chapter has at least two members who are in their nineties, and one who is over one hundred.  
 
I had the privilege to work for the Brandon School Division as a Vocational-Industrial High School teacher. Today, at this stage of my life, my Golden Years I find myself “Bullied” by the Executive of the Manitoba Teachers Society and the members of our NDP provincial Government.  
 
I was a member of the MTS for the length of my teaching career and was at one time Vice-president of the Brandon Chapter of MTS. I was never privy to these discussions but the then Superintendent Mr. Bob Swayze regularly was involved in discussions with the Labour Relations Officers of the MTS. Mr. Swayze recalls a meeting with Mr. George Strange, a highly respected Officer of the MTS who was actively involved in the negotiations with Government concerning the Cost of Living Allowance, (COLA) adjustments undertaken when the members of the MTS voted to fund their own LTD.  
 
Mr. Strange made a point of meeting with the Superintendents of the Brandon School Division to ensure they understood the changes being proposed, and that they would support it with the teachers in the Division. At that time it was evident that the executive of MTS were planning for the needs of future Retired Teachers. This was true until the present Government came to power.  
 
It would appear that the actions of the present MTS Executive are completely without regard to the efforts of past Executives, the understandings conveyed to the teachers in this province in the past by those Executives, and the financial undertakings of teachers in this province made in good faith that the COLA would be protected.  
 
The current Government has finally advanced payments to the TRAF, but this should not relieve them of the obligations to see that the COLA commitments previously guaranteed are met.  
The “Sale Report” is an attempt to find a resolution for the government, and does not address the needs of the retired teachers, it fails to address the governments failure during the last nine years to address these problems which they were made fully aware of: there are no provisions to guarantee better treatment in the future, and the Report fails to recognize that teachers in this province have been paying for a benefit they are being deprived of.  
 
It is particularly disturbing to follow the actions of the current MTS Executive. How can they calmly ignore the fate of the retired teachers of Manitoba? How can they blindly propose to Active Teachers that they support the Sale Report?  
 
Erroneous handouts from Pat Issak President of the Manitoba Teachers Society, which are full of errors and omissions, have been mailed to all active teachers, at an estimated cost of $30,000. She announced that she was holding a plebiscite asking the Active and Retired Teachers certain questions about the Sale Report. Her Press Release, published in the Free Press and the Brandon Sun, states that implementing the report is a win-win situation, it is for her and Doer’s NDP government, but not for Retired Teachers. Furthermore, this non-binding plebiscite, which will cost somewhere in the vicinity of $50-60,000 for a return mailing, will be paid for by the NDP government.  
 
With out any representation from the organization that is supposed to be the voice of all teachers both Active and Retired, Retired Teachers for the past three years have journeyed from across the province to the Legislature at the opening of Parliament to peacefully protest our plight, to which the Honorable Peter Bjornson Minister of Education is quoted as calling us “Militant.”  
 
We are further involved in a letter writing and telephone campaign to catch the attention of the government to try to give this problem some priority.  
 
If I was an active teacher in this province today I would be withdrawing my membership to MTS and investing the Max in RRSP’s to assist in my future retirement.  
 
The actions of MTS and NDP must be considered “Elder Abuse”. This is abuse of the worst kind because it is directed toward people who have committed their lives to serving the youth of Manitoba in the hope that their efforts would benefit not only the youth, but also our province.  
 
Even today while in retirement the retired teachers volunteer en-mass for unpaid jobs in Senior Citizen homes, hospitals, sports events, taxiing the sick and needy, and the like.  
 
If a young adult asks me if education is a good profession, I encourage them to do so, but in another province where teachers are more valued.  
 
Source: Mr. R.M. Swayze, Retired Superintendent of Brandon School Division.