History and Accomplishments of the Sears Retiree Group

The Summer of 2003 marked the seventh anniversary of the founding of the Sears Retiree Group (SRG) as an organization of Sears retirees. In early Spring of 1996, all retirees were advised by Sears that they had the right to change or cancel retiree benefits at any time, and that a study was underway to review benefits. In the opinion of many retirees, the company did not have this right - that Sears had made commitments in company publications, written retirement agreements, and verbally, that were not negotiable.

The result was that about 50 retirees in the Toronto area, and similar groups in Victoria, Vancouver, Regina, Quebec City and the Maritimes, organized informal meetings to discuss the situation. The outcome was the founding of the Sears Retiree Group (SRG), to protect our rights. Volunteers were asked for, nominations made, our executive body quickly assembled. In addition, donations were contributed, and a small treasury raised. Contact was made with Sears - we pointed out that we considered their assumptions false and requested a meeting with them. Initial reaction from Sears was not encouraging, but improved with time. Over an extended period, here is what we have accomplished:

1. Established a central committee consisting of Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer with co-backups, and a body of 12 directors to provide guidance. The committee meets as frequently as monthly or as needed.
2. Built a treasury through member donations, to handle the cost of mailings and legal advice.
3. Retained one of Canada's best legal firms with expertise in labour relations and employee benefits.
4. Obtained appointment of SRG members to two committees set up by Sears to address retiree concerns about health & dental benefits: a Health & Dental benefit Cost Review Committee (5 SRG members), and a Communication Committee (3 SRG members)
5. Submitted the names of two SRG members for appointment as trustees on the Sears Health & Welfare Trust Fund & saw those two persons approved. The Trust Fund has subsequently been turned over to professional managers by Sears and this relationship has ceased.
6. Established a computerized mailing list of over 4000 members (approximately 70% of retirees with benefits). Our legal counsel regard this as a major and remarkable achievement.
7. With the great help of retirees in other provinces, established co-ordinating commitees in all provinces.
8. On two occasions, SRG central committee representatives and SRG provincial co-ordinating committee representatives met with Sears management in Toronto to discuss ways and means of ensuring continuation of the health & dental benefits promised us at the time of retirement. Sears generously covered the expenses of SRG representatives.
9. Continued to meet with Sears at the Senior Manager and Officer level.
10. Originated our own Newsletter (UPDATE) in both English and French. By the end of 2003, 15 issues of UPDATE have been mailed to members.
11. SRG members of the Communication Committee worked with Sears in the publication of a retiree newsletter, New Horizons.
    The Company subsequently dissolved both the Committee and New Horizons, replacing the latter with a new publication entitled ERAS.
12. After many meetings of the Health and Dental Cost Review Committee, reached what we feel is a satisfactory and equitable agreement on our health benefits. We feel this was a major achievement and has eliminated the possibility of a long, costly, stressful court action, particularly bearing in mind the age and health of our retirees.
13. Our pensions are partially indexed by Sears at high levels of inflation, and we are grateful for that fact. However, even low levels of inflation, over substantial periods of time, can seriously erode our buying power, and we have no protection against this. The pension fund has been in a surplus position for many years, and SRG has approached Sears on the possibility of using part of it for pension enhancement. (We are particularly concerned about retirees with quite small pensions.) We began dialogue on this subject in 2001 but without success to date (July 2003), having been turned down twice. We will keep our members advised.
14. In concert with other interested parties, we were helpful in pressuring the Ontario Government to drop pension legislation introduced in the legislature in 2002 which we feel would have had a negative effect on retired pensioners.

All of this has taken many thousands of hours of hard work by your central and provincial co-ordinating committees. Time spent is purely voluntary and represents a heavy personal commitment by your committees. None of your financial contributions are spent as compensation of any kind.

We must now, however, consider the future of the SRG. Here are the general conclusions of your Executive Committee:

1. SRG must be maintained as a continuous organization representing Sears retirees. We believe we must continue to monitor the administration of the benefits promised to us upon retiring, prevent any erosion of them, and possibly improve them. Changes in company policies, officials, ownership, its financial base, and the possibility of mergers and acquisitions could have significant impact on our benefits. We cannot predict the future, but prudence requires a constant state of readiness for changes. We cannot allow SRG to dissolve and then have to rebuild it from the ground up under panic conditions. Too much effort has already been expended in getting us to this point.
2. Founding members of SRG central and provincial committees will gradually age and experience health and personal concerns, requiring that they be replaced by others. Your executive committee is giving this major attention. Ultimately, we will survive only as long as we have people willing to do the work, as in all voluntary organizations.
3. Communications and legal counsel are large and important expenses, but absolutely necessary. Both were critical in our success to date. Periodic fund raising is required to maintain a healthy treasury. We do not anticipate that this will place a heavy financial burden on any retiree. SRG will continue to speak on behalf of all retirees.
4. As older members die, and new retirements occur, we must continue to build and maintain our membership base if we are to remain in a healthy state. All Sears retirees are welcome to become members of SRG.
5. We feel we have a respectful relationship with Sears current management with continuous communication, both through executive contact and joint work on Sears committees.

We hope this update clarifies our accomplishments to date, our present status, and thoughts for the future. We assure you we will continue to work hard on behalf of all Sears retirees. To sum up, our mission is to protect our benefits and (if possible) improve our pensions.