The 2021 Virtual Retired Members Gathering offered a mix of socializing, activism, education, and celebration.
The program, held Oct. 19-20, featured workshops on topics ranging from teachers’ strikes over the decades to climate change. MTA leaders spoke about issues of concern to educators, and two dedicated unionists were recognized for decades of service.
In her welcoming address, MTA President Merrie Najimy praised retired members for their years of service to public education and their continued activism in the union.
Najimy said retirees are reliable activists through their involvement in advancing the MTA’s legislative priorities. They can and will be counted on to step up again, she said, for initiatives ranging from the campaign for the Fair Share Amendment to the battle for more resources for retirees. Najimy also urged participants to share their experiences with others.
"I love listening to Anne Wass tell the stories that she tells me of what it was like in the 1960s when we first earned our rights to collective bargaining and what the first MTA strike wave was about, and how it was mostly women on the front lines," Najimy said, reflecting on the experiences shared by the former MTA president. "That’s a history that our members don’t necessarily know.
"And so you, as the keepers of institutional knowledge and the first organizers and activists to be on the front lines, have a really crucial role in building the relationships with the local — either from the union that you retired from or the local in the town where you live," she continued. "Help them really understand what union power can be, what union power is, how the MTA started off by building union power — and give them the support that they need, with the expectation that they also show up for the specific retiree issues that you will need."
MTA Vice President Max Page offered an overview of the Fair Share Amendment, saying retired members have an influential voice in their communities."The key to victory is us, as educators, speaking our truth to our fellow members in our community, to our family and friends and to the broader community, because people trust MTA members on public education policy," Page said.
"You are the people who helped build these schools and colleges," he added. "You can say, ‘I want to defend what we helped build over these many years.’"
The "Honor Our Own" award, a highlight of the Gathering each year, is decided on by the Retired Members Committee, which evaluates materials that outline the accomplishments of nominees who are put forward by fellow educators.
The Retired Members Committee found two nominees to be especially deserving of such recognition this year, said member Jackie Gorrie.
"The committee did something that Congress doesn’t seem to have the courage to do: We compromised for the group as a whole, and we named two honorees," Gorrie said.
Two distinguished recipients, Richard Liston and Craig Slatin, were recognized, a first in the Gathering’s history.
Liston, a retired special education teacher and former president of the Everett Teachers Association, said that retirees continue to make a difference and will keep up their advocacy. But he credited others for their persistence.
"I would not be here if not for those who led the charge to make our voices heard," Liston said.
Slatin, a retired professor of public health at UMass Lowell, thanked the Retired Members Committee for the honor.
In accepting the award, Slatin said retired members remain active in their advocacy for their communities and their students.
"Though our members have been battered by the pandemic, in their personal lives as well as in their schools, I believe that they are ready for action," he said. "The MTA is not a sleeping giant. It is awake and dynamic, and its influence can grow exponentially as we continue to create strategies that move us to greater social justice action. It’s been a wonderful ride. I’m touched deeply by receiving an award from my union."
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