This Committee provides advice on all matters related to the concerns of retired members of the faculty and academic librarians. 

by Stephen Rupp

Access to Microsoft’s Suite of Tools

I will highlight below some key points from Raymond Kwong’s April 17th, 2024 communication, (UTFA Council representative and member of UTFA’s Negotiating Team), about retirees' access to Microsoft 365. You may recall that in the summer of 2022, the University Administration announced, without warning or consultation, that retirees would no longer have access to Microsoft 365, except for those who were ‘actively engaged’ with the university. What constitutes involvement was left to the retiree’s local unit to determine. This was hugely problematic for many retirees. The UTFA Retired Members Committee (RMC) and the UTFA Executive vehemently opposed this unilateral change with the Administration and access to the full suite of Microsoft 365 was extended until April 2023 only to retirees with an active engagement with the university. Retirees not deemed by local units to be actively engaged only have access to Outlook and Calendar, allowing them to get email but little else.

Negotiations with the Administration for salaries, benefits, and workload started in September 2023, and the UTFA Negotiating Team identified retiree access to Microsoft 365 as a priority for improvement. The Administration moved away to a certain degree from its current arrangement and tabled an offer to UTFA. Raymond Kwong, in a separate communication, has requested your feedback on the adequacy of the Administration’s offer. I encourage you to provide your thoughts because your voice matters in helping your bargaining team to respond to a priority that affects so many retirees.

RMC Meeting 

The Committee had a very engaging and informative meeting in January 2024 where the Chief Negotiators and other team members updated members on the bargaining process, our bargaining priorities, UTFA’s ongoing quest for bargaining information so that we can engage in meaningful and rational discussion with the Administration, and highlights of proposals tabled, including UTFA’s unwavering position that equal access to health benefits improvements continue for all active and retired members.

Annual Retiree Reception 

The Retired Members Committee is holding UTFA’s Annual Retiree Reception on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. via Zoom. Our featured keynote speaker will be Gary Kawaguchi, UTFA’s Benefits Consultant, and he will discuss Why Health Benefits Are Important in Retirement. The event will also provide you with an opportunity to chat with other retirees and to hear important updates from the UTFA leadership about the current round of bargaining where retiree benefits and post-retirement access to Microsoft 365 are being discussed. As a retiree, if you wish to register for this session, please click here.

Acknowledgements

I wish to express my deep appreciation to all the members of the UTFA RMC for their active participation in the Committee, and to the RMC and Executive for their strong advocacy for retired faculty and librarians.