Proceedings of meeting:
President Phyllis welcomed the branch Presidents and turned the meeting over to VP Walter.
The meeting was called to order by the Vice-President.
Recorder:
Vic Fleury selflessly proposed that Bill Wagstaff be responsible for recording the proceedings of the meeting. Bill accepted on condition that he be appointed for the next meeting as well; all agreed.
Agenda:
The Agenda was accepted with the following additions:
Regional Returning Officers [ item 6 ]
Panel presentation [ item 7 ]
The minutes of the previous meeting (previously circulated) were accepted by acclamation.
Outstanding Business:
Pre-Retirement Seminars Evaluations:
VP, Walter Farmer, presented the evaluation sheets and indicated that 2 areas had not yet completed the seminars. In general the evaluations were extremely positive, though some adjustments are planned for 2009. Vic Fleury suggested that the final handout could be toned down somewhat as it presented a rather gloomy outlook.
An in-service session for new Branch Presidents was favourably received.
Attention was drawn to the 2009 RTO Golf Tournament, which will again be held at Seaview Golf Course, North Sydney.
Foundation Memorial Cards are available for Branch presidents to pick up.
AGM 2009 will be in Halifax and Jo-Ann will make a presentation later.
Affiliation with the NS Citizens Health Care Network was discussed and the RTO will follow the path taken by the NSTU.
Presidents’ Meeting by Regions:
Topics to be discussed:
The process of electing Members-at-Large needs to be examined.
AGM 2009, 2010, and beyond [as per accompanying green sheet]
In-service of Branch Officers
AGM 2009 Resolutions
Pre-Retirement Seminars
Issues arising from the December synopsis
Regional Returning officers
The Branch Presidents broke into regional groups to consider the above listed items.
7A. Reports from the Regional Groups are summarized as follows:
Member-at-Large Election Process:
Needs to be clarified and made uniform and the process should include meeting the region’s voters to hold the final election.
The SW/ V Region asked that their region be divided into two areas each with a Member-at-Large as the area is too challenging geographically. This issue was expanded upon by the Cape Breton region who suggested that we organize the Executive on the current School Board pattern, which would give 8 members (including the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial).
This need not involve an expansion of numbers on the Executive as certain officers could be appointed from among those elected to serve regionally. This suggestion was well received and it was widely endorsed that a resolution should be developed for the upcoming AGM.
Rotation of the AGM:
Should be adopted (versus every 2nd year in Halifax region) as it prevented some regions being permanently assigned “non election: years. A contrary opinion was voiced by the Chignecto-Central area which felt that the AGM should be held every second year in the Metro area. The South West Region put forward the idea for consideration that the AGM be held outside of the peak tourist season; e.g. in October for mainland Nova Scotia and some other suitable time for the region of Cape Breton. VP Walter pointed out that the travel costs of the AGM are about the same whatever the location within the province.
In- servicing of Branch Officers:
It was thought this should be restricted to incoming Presidents and an appeal was made for Branches to align their year so that the terms of presidents would coincide.
Cape Breton region proposed that serious consideration be given to an increase in annual dues to the RTO. This would enable the organization to spend more of its energies on services to be rendered and a little less of the urge to sign up “lost” members, though this did not intend to diminish the need for membership drives.
Resolutions for AGM 2009:
To be held in Halifax; resolutions must be in to the Executive by April 6.
So ended the First Day and the VP announced that the Second Day would commence at 9:00 am.
February 17th Session:
The second session was called to order by Vice President Walter at 9:10 am on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
7B. Panel Discussion:
Three Branch Presidents formed the Panel – John Curry, Jon Davidson, and Vic Fleury. Each summarized what seemed to be important to the role of the Branch President, minimum expectations for branches and challenges facing branches. Common themes were:
The social aspects of meetings
The organizational needs of the office
The promotion of membership
The importance of establishing continuity
Liaison with other branches and the RTO
Communication within the branch
The challenge of relevance and vitality
The importance of improving the transition to the RTO
A timed presentation on behalf of Sheonoroil Foundation by Betty-Jean Aucoin.
Reports
The previously circulated reports were considered, it being noted that they were being dealt with out of the Agenda order to accommodate some members who had to leave early.
President’s Report:
Phyllis drew special attention to New Horizon’s Program, for which an information sheet was distributed. Branch President Danny Madden spoke to request that branch presidents support this worthwhile endeavour.
Pension & Benefits:
Jim Kavanaugh gave two (2) comprehensive written reports on Pensions, and on Benefits. Jim acknowledged that our pension funds have been hit hard by the recent catastrophic downturn of the market, but pointed out that we must stress to members that the long term aspect of our pension is not in danger. There is no need for panic even though our funding projections have to be re-aligned. There will be an article in the next issue of the Retired Teacher by Steve Wolfe and the new handbook will have information in the form of a pension FAQ.
On the benefits side of Jim’s responsibilities he reminded members to look at the recently signed agreement achieved by the NSTU, which has some improved benefits for retired teachers.
Membership:
Randy Holmesdale presented the membership
Committee report indicating our numbers now stand at 6174.[by deduction method]. The membership database is being updated and improved in conjunction with an ad hoc group that is discussing these issues with the NSTU.
Presidents were asked to encourage their members to choose the automatic deduction method of payment in order to avoid the expensive difficulties of tracking renewal.
Policy Handbook updates are being worked upon before handing these over the Assessment Committee.
A review has taken place of the Branch President’s information sheets regarding branch constitutions.
In conjunction with the branches, a package for teachers retiring in June 2009 is being prepared.
Branch Presidents were reminded of the prestigious award for achieving 75% sign-up of 2008 retirees.
Communications [Newsletter]:
Items to be included in our next newsletter should be given to John Donovan today if possible. Branches wishing to be featured should arrange same with TZ or JD. Local input is the lifeblood to the newsletter.
Monies for membership pins already acquired should be given to Pierre ‘toute de suite’.
Assessment:
The new RTO Handbook is in preparation.
Treasurer’s report:
The newly risen Pierre summarized the highlights of the circulated financial report and fielded questions on it. He mentioned that although our financial situation is slowly improving if we want more service we have to balance that with the need to secure more money.
ACER / CART
The ACER/CART report was circulated on Tom Gaskell’s [away] behalf. Work with other senior groups continued, especially on issues such as a universal pension plan and a “pension summit” representing a wide spectrum of retirees.
AGM 2009:
Jo-Ann refreshed members on information already in circulation re the upcoming annual general meeting to be held at the Delta Halifax (1-888-423-3582) and handed out info sheets to all.
Branches were requested to honour the tradition of donating a door prize for the occasions.
There being no other business, the Chair declared the meeting adjourned