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

The Retired Members Committee (RMC) represents approximately seven hundred retired faculty and librarians at the University of Toronto. All newly retired faculty and librarians are automatically members of UTFA.

Much work was done in the fall of 2024 on improving retiree access to Microsoft 365. In November, the UTFA Salary, Benefits, and Workload Negotiating Team, on which I have served as the retiree representative, and the University Administration reached a Letter of Understanding (LOU) on retiree access to Microsoft 365. In brief, retirees who are actively engaged continue to have full access. Those who retire between July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2029, but are not actively engaged, will be eligible to purchase a personal perpetual licence for a Microsoft Office suite and receive full reimbursement. The criteria and process for the active engagement designation are described in the LOU. This bilateral agreement was jointly announced in January 2025 by UTFA and the Administration.

We appreciate Mariana Valverde chairing the RMC from July to November 2024. I have taken on this role on an interim basis from November 2024 to June 2025. A meeting of the RMC was held in December to plan for a town hall meeting for retirees, and to discuss speakers and topics of interest for the annual retiree reception in May 2025. The issue of the University Pension Plan divesting from certain types of investment was also discussed.

We held a town hall for retired members on January 21, 2025, that was very well attended (76 retirees), and where there was lively participation by the attendees. I provided retirees with an update of the Microsoft 365 agreement, and UTFA President Terezia Zorić provided updates on other key bargaining items. Such events inform and help set bargaining priorities.

An ad hoc Committee to nominate the speaker for the annual reception, consisting of Judith Poë, Kent Weaver, Terezia Zorić and myself, met in February 2025 to work on a shortlist, and the event will be held on May 22nd, and will feature Dr. Michelle Silver, Professor and Chair, Department of Health and Society, University of Toronto Scarborough. More details about the event will follow soon. Register now!

In Memoriam

The Retired Members Committee has learned since the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the death of the following retirees: Harvey Dyck, Yoshio Masui, Ruth Pierson, Peter Rosenthal, Mary Violette Seeman, Kenneth Selby, John Stevenson, Marla Miller, and John Winder.