MEA-Retired
Team effort needed to tackle issues facing MEA-Retired
President-elect Mary Christian says retirees must continue to lobby against attacks on pension and health care benefits.
Mary Christian didn’t stop caring
about students, teachers and support
staff and public education when she
stepped down as an elementary classroom
teacher in Flint 15 years ago.
Oftentimes, in fact, MEA retirees discover they can’t find enough time to squeeze in all the activities they perform on behalf of public education.
It’s no different for Christian, the former MEA president and MEA vice president who has been a public education advocate for 43 years and who in April was elected to a three-year term as president of the 26,000-member MEA-Retired.
“I’m grateful that I can continue to serve and continue to support public education,” Christian said. “We have a lot of important issues facing us, and it’s going to take a team effort on our part to protect any gains we’ve made over the years.”
Retired, actives must work together
Of prime importance is to prevent the further erosion of pension and health care benefits.
“All of us, retireds and actives, have to come together as a team to lobby against attacks on our pension and health care,” Christian said. “I was so upset when the state chamber of commerce spent $3 million to defeat Proposal 5 last year, saying the retirement system was breaking the back of our public schools.
“They don’t understand or refuse to acknowledge that we put money from every paycheck into our retirement. You know, none of us gets into this profession to get rich.
“I used to think if I ever made $10,000 a year, I’d be wealthy. At the very least, all of us should have sound retirement and health care benefits that we know will be there for us. It will take a continuous effort on our part to make sure legislators understand this.”
Better communications a must
Christian also wants to see improved communications with MEA-Retired members through the MEA Voice; the MEA-Retired’s own quarterly publication, the Michigan Retirement Report; and electronically.
“We’ll need to use a combination of those,” she said.
Christian commended the efforts of MEA-Retired local chapters in effectively communicating with members through newsletters.
More chapters needed
Another goal of Christian when she takes over as MEA-Retired president is to add more chapters and to keep the organization’s current 33 chapters “alive and active.”
“We have significant areas around the state without chapters,” Christian said.
She praised the work of existing chapters. “Our local chapters do a great job of keeping our members aware of what’s happening in our state that impacts them. We all need to keep our eyes on what the Legislature is doing that affects us. Our members are excellent at lobbying on important issues in public education, and we can do it every day.”
Mentoring program in works
Christian also hopes to establish an after-school mentoring program, enlisting MEA-Retired members to guide and counsel both new teachers and new support personnel in the profession.
“We would be available to answer questions, offer guidance based on our experience, or just listen to their concerns,” Christian said. “We’d like to create a model program.”