Vol.15.Issue 1 - Toronto Occasional Teachers

Page 2This Fight is About More than Our Collective AgreementThe following article was written by Brian Sawyer, an ETFO member from the Grand Erie TeacherLocal. His passionate essay identifies the key issue we are all facing—the loss of our Civil Liberties.Why Does the Putting Students First Act Alarm Me?Not because of the economic impact on teachers, not because it stripped us of our collectivebargaining rights, but because freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction andthe Putting Students First Act is yet another in an increasing series of attacks by governments onour freedoms.Our Provincial Government has framed their recent Putting Students First Act in their owndeceptive terms through half-truths, incomplete information, and inaccurate information.Unfortunately, though our Union has made efforts to deal with these inaccuracies and haveattempted to frame the issue more honestly, they have not managed to put front and centre thelarger issue facing Canadians. Neither the public, the media, nor many teachers themselves seem toproperly recognize this larger issue: the attacks on our freedoms too often launched by ourgovernments.It should be apparent to all of us that have ever turned our attention to what happens in therest of the world, that one of the most important things, probably the most important thing, we haveto be thankful for as Canadians are the rights and freedoms we enjoy. The freedom to express anopinion, the right to vote, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, right to privacy, freedom ofreligion, the freedom to work, the freedom to not be arbitrarily detained, and the freedom ofassociation and collective bargaining, amongst others. And yet, for the most part we sit and watchsilently as our rights and freedoms are chipped away at, bit by bit. Whether it is by the action ofgovernment agencies (the police actions at the G20 summit demonstrations), government legislation(the Quebec anti-protest legislation), or government inaction (the robo-calls of the last federalelection), the assault continues. One only has to look at the work of the Canadian Civil LibertiesAssociation to realize that our governments are all too often assaulting our rights and freedoms, theright to free collective bargaining being just one of those.The right to form a union and bargain collectively was achieved not without great struggle.The importance of unions and free collective bargaining to all Canadians should be clear. It has beena key factor in the creation of a large middle class, whose consumption has been one of the maindrivers of the economy. It has helped move us to a fairer society with greater equality. It hasresulted in the passage of virtually all employment legislation ensuring minimum standards ofhealth and safety, fairness, and equality in the workplace. Unfortunately, however, during the lastfew decades the rights of workers for the most part have been steadily eroded. The Putting StudentsFirst Act is just the most extreme example of this assault on our freedoms.The Canadian Foundation for Labour Rights has described this assault as follows:The DispatchWe have witnessed an erosion of labour rights in Canada. Over the past three decades federaland provincial governments in Canada have passed 206 pieces of labour legislation. Of those 206labour laws, 199 of them have either restricted, suspended or eliminated workers’ rights in Canada.Since 1982, Canada's record with respect to the number of complaints submitted to the InternationalLabour Law’s (ILO) Freedom of Association Committee is one of the worst of all of the ILO’s 183member States with unions in Canada filing more complaints than the national labour movements ofany other country. The more labour rights are under attack in Canada, the harder it will be to reduceincome inequality and raise the standard of living for low income earners. That is why it is importantfor all of us, regardless of whether we are trade unionists or not, to focus on labour rights as humanrights.

O c t o b e r , 2 0 1 2Page 3Why Does the Putting Students First Act Alarm Me? continuedThe Ontario Common Front, an organization comprised of numerous Ontario communityorganizations and the labour movement, recently published the report Falling Behind, wherein theyshowed the degree that inequality and poverty are increasing in this province.As educators, surely we are driven by a desire to ensure the best future we can for thestudents we teach and for our own children and should be motivated to act on issues such asgrowing inequality in Canada and the assaults on our fundamental freedoms.For me, that is what the big issue is. Not the economic impact on teachers, not how insultingor disrespectful the legislation is to teachers, but how it is just one more extreme example of theattacks on those fundamental freedoms that we are so fortunate to enjoy and which the nextgeneration should also be able to enjoy.As Ronald Reagan put it in speaking about the worker protests in Poland:They remind us that where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom islost. They remind us that freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. You and Imust protect and preserve freedom here or it will not be passed on to our children and it woulddisappear everywhere in the world.As Sid Ryan, the President of the Ontario Federation of Labour implored us at the Augustrally at Queen’s Park against the Putting Students First Act, do not just protest this piece oflegislation, become part of a larger movement that fights for a free and fair Canadian society.If you have found anything in what I have written to agree with or even just to think about,please forward this to other teachers you know in any board, to any parents you know, or just toanyone you know that you believe cares about freedom in Canada.Changing your QECO Rating? Ask for Proof of ReceiptOccasional Teachers will continue to take A.Q. courses in hopes of getting a future contractposition even though they won’t be seeing any immediate changes to their pay because of Bill 115.Members should request an email acknowledgement of receipt from the Board when sendingin QECO Rating Statements and keep this email on file just in case there is a need for proof in thefuture.Loss of Prep Time—It’s Still HappeningMembers are reporting they are losing their prep periods—often at the end of the day. TheCollective Agreement, clause (28.2.0.) states, "The timetable for an Occasional Teacher shall be thesame as the timetable of the Teacher who is being replaced."If your timetable has you covering another class on what should be your prep period, go tothe office and let the Principal know. If you are told by the Administrator that you must do thecoverage, even though you’ve told them it is a violation of your Collective Agreement, call our office.We want to hear from you so we can get you extra pay for the extra work that was in violation ofyour Collective Agreement.Access to the TDSB Benefits Plan — Correct your CalendarThis year Occasional Teachers who have taught for 80 full-time equivalent days or more ina school year, are entitled to apply for the Employee Benefits Plan. Please correct your calendarinformation on page 4. Unfortunately, we think getting to the 80 days might be harder than everbefore. See the President’s message on the back page.

P a g e 4ETFO Annual Meeting—August, 2012Delegates Judy Anderson, Susan Andrew, Donna Chapman, Greg Deitcher, DonovanFernandes, Rob Fulford, Bonnie Grossman, Scott Maudsley, Susan Monahan, Pat Munroe,Marion Mutton, Julia Sweeney, Iris Sopinka, Deanna Webb and alternates, Drew Schofer andSukhjinder Sidhu represented our Local at the 2012 ETFO Annual Meeting.Our thanks to the above members for their support in advancing the interests ofOccasional Teachers and giving up four days of their summer break to attend.If you are interested in participating as a delegate next August, look for the January issueof The Dispatch with the details on the delegate election process.Get Involved in Your Local’s CommitteesMuch of the Local’s work is done by Committees. Please consider joining a committeeworking to engage members and provide the activities and services members enjoy.Call the office @ 416-227-1866 or e-mail us (see front page) for more information.Constitution Committee: Chair, Susan MonahanBudget Committee: Chair, Scott MaudsleyElections Committee: Chair, Rob FulfordExcellent Schools Committee: Chair, Bonnie GrossmanHealth and Safety Committee: Chair, Todd PrescottMember Involvement Committee: Chair, Marsha RaymanProfessional Development Committee: Chair, Donna ChapmanPolitical Action Committee: Chair: Greg DeitcherSocial Committee: Chair, Rob FulfordSocial Justice and Equity Committee: Chair, Sabrina RamnananStatus of Women: Chair, Pat MunroeMessage from your President:Local FellowshipOur Local endeavoursto establish feelings offellowship and supportamong all our members,throughout the school year.We would like toacknowledge the significantevents in a member’s life.We encourage you tosend us news of specialmilestones, events andoccasions pertaining to anymember of our Local.Dear Colleagues,This fall, Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty, along with theConservative Party rammed through Bill 115. Ironically this isthe same leader who declared his own legacy would be “EducationPremier”. This shameful Legislation violates our right to bargaincollectively.Our Local will continue to bargain to improve yourworking conditions outside of Bill 115. The TDSB has advised usthey are not prepared to respond to our bargaining issues untilthey have developed an implementation plan for Bill 115. This hasresulted in a stalemate at the negotiations table.ETFO has adopted the phrase, “It is not business asusual” as we campaign to keep our issues in the media and thepublic’s attention. Read the PAUSE pamphlet included with thisnewsletter. Expect more developments in bargaining in thecoming days. We need you to stay informed and connected. Weneed to work in solidarity.Yours in Federation,MarionPresidentFirst Vice-PresidentMarion MuttonRobert FulfordSecond Vice-President Sabrina RamnananThird Vice-PresidentTreasurerSecretaryExecutive at Large:Judy AndersonBonnie GrossmanMarsha RaymanETT Liaison:Donna ChapmanScott MaudsleySusan MonahanGreg DeitcherPatricia MonroeIris SopinkaJohn SmithPublished by: ETFO - Toronto Occasional Teachers17 Fairmeadow Avenue, Suite 209,Toronto, Ontario, M2P 1W6(By Board Courier: Route NE)416-227-1866www.etfo-torots.org