YUFA
Retirement
Lorna’s Luncheon for the Forcibly Retired
22 Sep 06 - On 11 Sept 06, the Employer hosted a luncheon in honour of retired members of the faculty and staff of York University and among those invited were the members of YUFA whom we now call the “2006 Cohort” – our members forced to retire against their wishes just as Mandatory Retirement is ending in the province of Ontario. Below is the response to that invitation, sent by ten of the cohort to the President.
Louise Ripley
YUFA Communications Officer
________
President Lorna
Marsden
York University
Toronto
8 September 2006
Dear Lorna Marsden,
We have all received your invitation to a “Luncheon in honour of Retired Members of Faculty and Staff from 01 August 2005 to 01 July 2006”.
In response to this invitation we would like to remind you once again that we do not see any “honour” in your decision to terminate us from our full-time positions at the university.
Both as individuals and through our union we have attempted for the past year to engage you and your administration in a serious discussion of this issue. You have given no good reason for denying us all the right to choose the time of our retirement.
If your wish to honour us is more than an empty form of words, we ask you to reconsider your refusal to discuss the issue, and to join with the other Ontario universities that are already making this choice available to their faculty and staff.
A resolution of this issue that respects basic human rights will honour not only the individuals affected but York University itself. We urge you to exercise your leadership to achieve this truly honourable goal.
Yours respectfully,
Anne-Marie Ambert
Frances Beer
David Clipsham
Brigitte Kitchen
Ester Greenglass
Nick Lary
Edelgard Mahant
Sam Mallin
Neil Wiener
H Thomas Wilson