Opening Statement



Tuesday 11 December 2012

OECTA Metro 7 Speak Out!

[Today's updated teacher news links in next blog down]

Here is a guest blog that was sent to me. I have encouraged these before, and am most pleased to be able to post one again. I will withhold comment for now. There is, of course, a Comment button below for you to use.




Hello David,
You can call us the Metro 7. That's what Bad Boy Brock dubbed us. It works. We are not heroes or in this for personal glory but because "when good people remain silent evil triumphs". We could not take the attack upon our right to a ratification vote for the OECTA MOU and on our right to bargain locally with our school boards. WE are pro-democracy and anti- dictatorship (union or provincial government) on principle. We were also very disappointed that OECTA TSU did not choose to support us a) with legal advice or b) with a few union business days to attend the LB hearing. We are doing what our unit should be doing!
Our OLRB [Ontario Labour Relations Board] complaint is that OECTA failed to communicate, failed to get authorization, failed to consult with its members and frankly misled its members with the representation of the members and in this case in the context of CB [Collective Bargaining]. 
Our application indicates in at least five ways that OECTA failed to abide by the bylaws and policies of the union in connection with CB, while representing to the members that they would abide by those policies:
It failed to abide by the systemic objectives of the union while representing that it would abide by them.
It failed to abide by the authorizing resolution passed by COP while representing that it would abide by that resolution.
It took away or limited the authority of local bargaining while representing that the authority would be honoured.
It engaged in bargaining that stripped the [CA] Collective Agreement over and above the parameters of the Government's original MOU terms. 
It is not just that it stripped collective agreements, but that it stripped them beyond what was authorized.
All of the processes are in place within the democratic institution of OECTA for how it will represent its members in CB. Our complaint is that OECTA departed from that process and negotiated an agreement that flew in the face of the representations it made, flew in the face of the processes the union has established for how CB works, and departed these in a substantive way. The union said it followed the same process and then to depart from the past practice is a violation of Section 74 of the Ontario Labour Relations Act.
More information will be sent. Please share it on your blog so that we can get the message out about what we are trying to do through our actions.
In Solidarity!
The Metro 7
[Names with held upon request]

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's going to be really tough to get this to fly if the majority of the OECTA locals ratify their MOU agreements. Get on your phones and computers.

Anonymous said...

I'm an ETFO member and your group of 7 are my new heros. Glad to see that some OECTA members are standing up. Hurray!

Anonymous said...

I am also an ETFO member and you have my complete respect as well. I find it absolutely shocking that two of the OECTA locals just recently ratified the MOU with such a high percentage despite all that is currently going on.

It makes me wonder if some kind of 'scare tactic' (such as the threat of the amalgamation of public and Catholic boards) was whispered at these voting sessions. Perhaps I am wrong, but I can't understand why on earth the OECTA teachers who just voted would not have least taken a stand - SYMBOLICALLY - and voted the 'deal' down. If the MOU is going to be imposed anyways, why not do the right thing on principle?! What fantastic media coverage THAT would have provided. Aren't we all getting sick and tired of hearing McGuinty and Broten brag about the thousands of Catholic teachers who accepted this travesty?!

Good luck, Metro 7. It takes guts to stand up for what is right. You are not alone.

angryoectateacherOTTAWA said...

Hi. To the poster above, this is NOT an MOU vote. It is LOCAL bargaining. PLEASE get that straight. I WILL be voting NO on principle!

Unknown said...

I heard that the locals that ratified their deals only got to vote on local issues.... They weren't voting on what was in the MOU.... Not sure though. Something to look into.

Anonymous said...

The reason the two locals ratified is because one is and LTO bargaining unit and the MOU has additional protections for them concerning fair hiring practices. They wouldn't had accumulated too many sick days and would be ineligible for gratuity so no problem there. For an LTO coming in to the system the MOU is actually pretty good. I can't fathom why the Elementary unit ratified though. Must be those Catholic martyr women who feel guilty for sinning against OECTA and Dalton and wish to be flagellated as their penance. The MOU is the whip and the hand is O'Dwyer/Broten/Dalton beast in priest's clothing.

Anonymous said...

Please take a minute and think of what may be coming down the pipes... Tim Hudak and the Conservatives. This is a picnic compared to what they would do to education in this province.

Anonymous said...

So vote NDP. What do the Metro 7 think about what should be done next?Their thoughts on the OECTA Bill of Rights?

Anonymous said...

It is true that the contents of the MoU that OECTA signed in July cannot be altered by local bargaining.

However, a yes vote to ratify a local agreement in effect is a vote that ACCEPTS those contract stripping parameters made on our behalf by OECTA Provincial and enshrines them into your local contract with YOUR LOCAL CONSENT, rather than having them imposed into your contract through Bill 115. BIG difference.

For God's sake, OECTA members: Show some backbone! Everyone else in the province sees that the MoU is ABSOLUTE CRAP and are rejecting it out of hand.

Are we union sheep, doing only what our 'leaders' tell us?

VOTE NO!

Anonymous said...

Semantics Schmantics!!! A ratified local agreement is a defacto, if not tacit, vote of for the MOU, and a big one at that. There is nothing to lose by saying NO! Is it not better to be forced a serf rather than making it your choice? Fasten your seatbelts folks.

Anonymous said...

Two things. First support for Catholic Ed is not and has not ever been an issue in this round of contract stripping. All sides admit this. Second the members voted to ratify local agreements which are separate from the MOU; their approval is in NO way an approval of the MOU.

Anonymous said...

Is the previous poster suggesting that one should capitulate in the face of a monstrous abuse of power because of the bigger beast that MIGHT be coming down the road. I'm very proud of the Metro 7 for taking this stand aginst the unacceptable behaviour of the OECTA leadership and am truly hopeful that others will follow their lead and stand up for their own rights and the rights of ALL others.

Anonymous said...

Tim will not get in. Too scary/stupid. Teachers need to gather behind the NDP and dump the Neo Liberals.

Thomas Charles MacInnes said...

As an ETFO member about to strike on the 14th, one thing that would make me feel better is to see some OECTA members join us on the lines during their breaks or, before or after school. Perhaps, an OECTA Letter to the Editor, in support of collective bargaining and against the MOU would be good, too. All in all, the silence from OECTA members in newspapers, tv or on radio has been deafening. The BIG LIE of the OECTA MOU being accepted and acting as a framework for the rest of the agreements has been helped by the silence on the part of the membership of OECTA. As ETFO members put their money where their mouthes are and walk off the job, any public show of support from OECTA would boost our spirits tremendously and put our morale over the moon.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely INCREDULOUS that two oecta locals would ratify at 94 and 95%ish. PLEASE oecta memebers, help us out in SOMEWAY, SOMEHOW in this fight...................?

Also, David maybe you can answer this. Is oecta provincial opposed to bill 115 or do they actually support it? I'm not trying to be facetious - I'm serious. Their silence is conspicuous!!

Kulture Kult Ink said...

Apparently OECTA is officially against Bill 115 but you could fool me. Out of sight is out of mind. I have tried to address your numerous comment concerns among our OECTA dissident set in today's update on my Strike blog below this one. The situation is horrific. In Solidarity!

Anonymous said...

Many of you are commenting about the difference between a local agreement and the MOU. My understanding is that all local agreements must fall within the parameters of the MOU (I'm an OSSTF member, and the local agreement we just rejected had to be "substantively identical" to the MOU. The government has the same expectations of OECTA units.) Bravo to the Metro 7, and bravo to all OECTA units who are taking their executive to task for selling them out!

Anonymous said...

I am a trustee with a public school board. I applaud the stand taken by some OECTA members. The current Liberal government (my personal opinion here) has put Board members and Union members on the same side of the table regarding the MOU. Re NDP, don't forget the "Rae Days" that we were all so upset about. Don't forget Mike Harris and the "Common Sense Revolution" (which held little common sense again my personal humble opinion) That doesn't leave us with much choice come the next provincial election which, I believe will happen in the spring of 2013.

Anonymous said...

Yes! Thank-you for your support, the metro seven, bill of rights, bad boy brock (haha) etc. I don't think your members realize how much this support means to us in this fight. I just hope they are not isolated pockets of resistance? I guess time will tell with ratification votes. In Solidarity!

Anonymous said...

I,too, was just bowled over that any OECTA local would vote yes! Do the members of OECTA realize what they are doing to 1.5 million workers and their families???? (ETFO, OSSTF, CUPE, OPSEU). In my Catholic upbringing, I was taught Love thy neighbour. How selfish indeed, truly. OECTA members, look at the big picture or big idea (literacy expectation). Your yes votes will affect so many people and YOUR families. Do you not care???

Anonymous said...

We care! Vote NO on all tentative agreements!

Anonymous said...

My OECTA local (PVNC) just issued a Local Bargaining update to our local members that essentially told us:
1) We don't yet have a tentative local agreement.
2) We plan to still negotiate on Monday Dec. 17th.
3) They bargaining team will email out a coles notes version of whatever they agree to that day on the evening of the 17th.
4) You will vote locally the next day (the 18th) without any time real time for discussion.

Wondering if the Metro 7 are willing to expand to become the GTA 8 with me included?

Kulture Kult Ink said...

I'd guess its too late now and you need to get something happening at PVNC. This is an absolutely bizarre story!!! Surely you are not alone in realizing that? I have never heard of anything like this before!!! Are you absolutely sure? In solidarity! David

Anonymous said...

Sadly yes... I am sure... I'll PDF you the memo...

Anonymous said...

How to deal with those deadlines? Vote NO. Or keep being treated like you don't matter in the new OECTA today.

Anonymous said...

Electronic voting in OECTA NOW! One member one vote on everything. If your Unit President can't handle that- time to protest and remove him/her too. The status quo voting system where Unit Presidents and Provincial hold all the votes did not save members from MOU contract strips. Time to revamp the OECTA voting structure. Or keep having the MOU replay at every contract negotiation in the future. Fight for change now, tomorrow is too late.

Anonymous said...

Talk about trying to "pull a fast one" on your members! Read the details of the potential rush-job at OECTA-PVNC here:

http://www.pvncoecta.ca/negotiations.shtml

The lack of respect shown to the members of OECTA-PVNC in this letter is appalling. As if lack of consultation was not already a large enough issue in OECTA.

Vote NO.

Anonymous said...

Stage 2 of the MOU. OECTA members start protesting your UNIT Presidents demanding the right to an individual vote. Time for real change! Protest the Provincial Office!

Anonymous said...

These candidates voted against the MOU and therefore can be considered interested in protecting the union membership's interests!

Sonia DiPetta
JuliePauletig
James Ryan
Marcie Tombari
Michael Wozniak

DA said...

I think that all teachers should become volunteer workers. After all you already do all these extra curricular activities for free. Think of how happy the Ontario government would be if all your work was voluntary. Also OECTA provincial would be totally in the province's good graces. If you love your work so much why not make it all voluntary? You don't need PAY like other workers! Why not subsidize the Ontario government's waste like good little dummies? They would adore you even more!

Anonymous said...

There is an uncomfortably large grain of truth in that last comment. OUCH!

Post a Comment

Communist Girls ARE More Fun!

Communist Girls ARE More Fun!
See below ...

Communist Girls Are More Fun #1

Communist Girls Are More Fun #1

Communist Grrrls are More Fun #2

Communist Grrrls are More Fun #2

Communist Grrrls Are More Fun #3

Communist Grrrls Are More Fun #3

Communist Girls Are More Fun #4

Communist Girls Are More Fun #4

Art at the Paris Louvre: What does it mean?!?

Art at the Paris Louvre: What does it mean?!?
A careful analytical study!

Help! I Have No Arms!

Help! I Have No Arms!
Please scratch my back.

I can't find my underwear!.

I can't find my underwear!.
Have you seen them!

Weee! I can fly!

Weee! I can fly!
Look! I can crawl thru walls!

I have a headache!

I have a headache!
And a broken nose.

I have a square hole in my bum!

I have a square hole in my bum!

Here try this, it's very good!

Here try this, it's very good!
No. You have a bird face.

I have an ugly baby!

I have an ugly baby!
No I'm not!

Let's save all our money + buy pants!

Let's save all our money + buy pants!
OK but I need a new hand too!

Oh no! I got something in my eye!

Oh no! I got something in my eye!

You don't look well.

You don't look well.
No. My head hurts +I have a sore chest.

Would you like a bun?

Would you like a bun?

Chichen-Itza: Lost Maya City of Ruins!

Chichen-Itza: Lost Maya City of Ruins!
The Temple of Kukulkan!

Gotta love it!

Gotta love it!
Truly amazing!

Under Reconstruction!

Under Reconstruction!

Temples + Snakes!

Temples + Snakes!

The Snake!

The Snake!
It runs the length of the ball field!