Opening Statement



Tuesday 5 May 2015

ETFO Work to Rule Phase 1 Memo!

The following is provided for your Teacher Free Speech information and discussion purposes. It is from copies of the memo as posted on the CTV and Scribble Live website @ CTV and @ Toronto Star My Blogsite Acronym Guide is @ Here!



STRIKE PROTOCOL: WORK TO RULE PHASE 1

Effective May 11, 2015 ETFO shall begin strike actions by the withdrawal of administrative services; Effective May 11 Teachers and Occasional Teachers will:

NOT undertake any EQAO related activities including field testing, marking, administrative duties, or EQAO test preparation activities with students or other personnel;

NOT undertake EQAO testing with students;

NOT prepare report card comments, complete or package the June report card -teachers WILL provide the school administrator with a class list of marks for the various subjects/ strands taught;

NOT perform the duties of a report card administrator [eg: merging, printing reports etc];

NOT perform the duties of a computer site administrator;

NOT attend staff/ divisional/ grade team meetings;

NOT act as Teacher Designates or Teacher-In-Charge unless receiving an annual allowance or annual stipend under the collective agreement for this assignment;

NOT participate in Ministry meetings/ activities of any kind before, during or after the instructional day;

NOT meet with Student Work Study Teachers [SWST];

NOT conduct any reading, writing or mathematics assessments other than those that the teacher deems necessary to report on student progress;

NOT input or submit any student assessment data [ie for MISA/ OnSIS] for any purpose other than their own personal student assessment;

NOT participate in any professional development workshops/ activities/ discussion forum/ webinar sessions on Ministry initiatives and 



MOE Liz Sandals: Not impressed [of course]!

NOT attend meetings or undertake tasks related to the following Ministry of Education activities:

Annual Learning Plan [ALP] projects
Associate Teacher [AT] Pilot Projects
Board Improvement Plan for Student Achievement [BIPSA]
create Pathways, All About Me Portfolios, Individual Pathway Plans
District Reviews
Early Years Collaborative Inquiry
Experiential Learning Pilot Projects
Learning for all Regional Projects
Math initiatives...
Ontario First Nation, Metis, and Inuit [FNMI] Education Policy Framework Initiatives
Ontario Focused Intervention Partnerships [OFIP] activities
Professional Learning Communities
Regional MISA Professional Network Centres [PNC's]
School/ Student Improvement Plans [SIPSA/ SIP's]
School/ Student Support Initiatives [SSSI]
Steps to English proficiency [STEP]
System Implementation and Monitoring [SIM]
Teacher Learning and leadership Program [TLLP]
Teacher Learning Critical Pathways [TLCP]; and
21st Century Learning Projects.

Effective May 11 2015 Teachers and Occasional Teachers will:

CONTINUE to teach and provide extra help for students;
CONTINUE to take attendance;
CONTINUE to maintain contact with parents regarding students during the instructional day;
CONTINUE to provide scheduled supervisory duties.

This job action is incremental in nature. This action will continue in effect until the labour dispute is satisfactorily resolved or ETFO's Provincial Executive deems that further actions are required. Should you have further questions or require clarification, please contact you steward or local.



COMMENTARY: 

ETFO's Phase 1 plan will first and foremost direct it's consequences to at the OPSBA and MOE, rather than place the heaviest burden on the parents and students whom the teachers are there to serve. Note that report card marks will be submitted, for the school to compile, complete and send out. Teachers will be available for parent contacts concerning their students during the regularly scheduled instructional day. Also note that the plan is incremental, and but a first step prior to further, escalating job actions as deemed necessary by the provincial executive.

ETFO's Phase 1 plan treads lightly on the contentious issues of a teacher's extracurricular duties as they apply to student supervision and after school activities, which as of Fall 2013 is still a part of an unresolved issue/ case before the OLRB.

ETFO's Phase 1 plan effectively diversifies and supplements OSSTF's Magnificent 7 incremental strike plan. So far, OECTA continues to be missing in action, without any job actions, including Work to Rule or a Teacher Strike not expected until June, or more likely, by OECTA's own reckoning, not until much later this fall, effectively maintaining business as usual during the period when parents will be deciding where to register their children for classes next year. Tch Tch!!! 

RELATED LINKS

See the ETFO Media Release @ ETFO WTR!

ETFO's 2014 Bargaining Goals are shown here @ ETFO

OPSBA: What was ETFO offered? @ Initial Offer!

ETFO at the OLRB @ Fall 2013

COMMENTS:

56 comments:

Anonymous said...

I truly hope that OECTA is with us and not against us this time. The proof will be in the action this June. If OECTA waits until the fall (after registration/transfers), that will speak volumes.

If they are with us, the time to do something is now. Instead of singing "Solidarity Forever", demonstrate it!

Anonymous said...

Bravo ETFO.! Hope those dastardly OECTA "leaders" get your message as we (teachers) are ready to follow your lead. Let not the C in OECTA stand for cowardly or corrupt!

Anonymous said...

Does the "C" stand for Catholic after the last AGM 2015 vote for OECTA Provincial President? Or?

Anonymous said...

OECTA - MIA

Anonymous said...

Go ETFO!

Anonymous said...

I would say "S" for stupid but OECTA doesn't have an "S"!

Anonymous said...

ETFO's phase 1 work to rule is TOO LITTLE TOO LATE considering many high school teachers have already walked off the job. Where is the solidarity?

Anonymous said...

Read the "new and improved" collective bargaining act and you will see that different unions are at different levels (local or central) of bargaining and different stages. OSSTF's is bargaining at the local level and striking. OECTA is bargaining at the central level and is late in joining the fray as they were waiting on the Ontario Labour Board....

Anonymous said...

RE the post above, OSSTF was bargaining at both the central AND local levels. According to the system, the two level bargaining can proceed at the same time.

Anonymous said...

Many of the commentators here are pure 100% union haters. The Wynne government would love nothing more than for us to turn our guns on each other. OECTA, ETFO, OSSTF, AEFO (yes they do exist even though nobody mentions them) all have their own bargaining strategies. They are all good plans but they are different and their bargaining is at different stages. That's life, get over it!

If you don't like the leadership of your union then do something about it - let your name stand for a candidate locally or provincially. If you win advocate for the change you seek. If you lose face the reality that you haven't convinced your colleagues that you have the best plan.

Anonymous said...

Good Morning Best Teacher Blog on the Planet Readers:

Last Night there was a Meet the Candidates Night in Oakville for the Halton Elementary Unit Elections on Monday May 11.

Aside from the candidates and those members currently on the Unit Executive, there were 6 Unit Members in the audience.

6 Unit members out of 1700+ members.

On last year's election flyer the current Unit President promised a new effective program to engage members and make them turnout to meetings. What happened?

EYEWITNESS NEWS HALTON

Anonymous said...

Interesting to note that the memo states: "Please do not post this bulletin or share it online." David, if you support the union movement why would you go against the wishes of the ETFO? Do you understand collective bargaining?

Kulture Kult Ink said...

All week, everytime i turned on the tv, this memo was up on the screen. Not to mention all over the internet. We share and discuss it too.

ETFO is probably my fave, track record wise, from 2013, but we all got sold short. we have a right to look, watch, ask questions. If you dont love or support the union then you follow mindlessly. Teachers desearve than this, and so my blog.

Kulture Kult Ink said...

Deserve better than this .... regrets i'm on the beach ....

Anonymous said...

The beach is probably the best place to be. Enjoy David!

Oectacat said...

Does that mean we don't even make the stupid grade? Pitiful!

Oectacat said...

What makes you think that hasn't been tried? Union bosses have millions of dollars backing them up. They bully and threaten those who speak up. They pay off others to back them up. How else do you you think we ended up with a non Catholic as a president?

Oectacat said...

Did she mean no communication regarding nominations? The first communication I received was vote for these people. Was she scared of decent people being nominated? People that would see her for the traitor she is and would not do her dirty work for her? Have we asked why MA has disappeared? Did she not like being a traitor any more?

Anonymous said...

It would have been nice to see OECTA be the first out the door, especially after 2013. That being said, each union has its unique needs and circumstances that influence their course of action.

I find it interesting that when I read the cast of characters involved in provincial bargaining, I see that the principals have their own representatives. To me, that sounds like a union. I wouldn't expect to see middle management of a large corporation have their own reps when workers and the corporation are negotiating a new contract.

Anonymous said...

|I have nothing against unions per se- when they work for their mandate which is the rights and interests of their members!

Anonymous said...

Can see why the principals and the vice principals are establishing their own union. They lost their sick days and gratuities with the OECTA "Deal" with no say in it (the same as all the teachers of Ontario). Good move P's and VP's!

Anonymous said...

Election Day is today May 11 in Halton Elementary Unit. Vote for members with local interests in mind. PLEASE.

Kulture Kult Ink said...

It strikes me as odd that we'd assume teachers will be in a worse situation if the govt knows we don't trust the leaders who sold us out last time and told us to agree to contract stripping. the very fact contract stripping occured would also seem to make it necessary for a unionist to not at the very least view ones "team" with extreme caution and dilligence. We live in different times, but none of this strikes me as right. No way!

Anonymous said...

One year later and what a difference in Halton Elementary. Nina has done great work in transforming HEU into one of the most effective unit in Ontario. It is no wonder why more than 65% of every HEU member voted for her last year. As for Halton Catholic Board, finally they are being held accountable for the terrible way they treat elementary teachers. Thank you Nina and great job.

Anonymous said...

Here's the real world-if you keep running a business at a loss to shareholders-the owners of the business-you get fired as CEO. But if you comment on the MOU and its leadership of cutbacks for members you get portrayed locally as being anti-union. Nice try. Forest Gump said it bes, "Stupid is as stupid does."

Anonymous said...

I keep seeing the bigots question why the President Elect is not Catholic. I have some other shocking revelations about the OECTA Provincial Exec. 8 out of 9 new PE members are not English (time to get rid of the E in Oecta?). 3 of the 9 were not born in Ontario and 4 of 9 got their teacher training outside of Ontario (time to get rid of the O in Oecta?). 9 out of 9 keep calling OECTA a union (time to get rid of the A in Oecta?).

Anonymous said...

Looks like someone needs to read the Ontario School Board Colective Bargaining Act themselves (ha!ha!) Sounds like good bedtime reading (sure to put you out quickly)!

Kulture Kult Ink said...

Principals union is NOT officially at the table unless MOE is letting them do so as a nod to changes still coming. Last time Catholic trustees threw them under the bus, so one can understand their concern. Still, it makes for amost strange CB model, as explained.

Anonymous said...

Informal surveys from different newspapers says that a majority of people would like to see teachers declared an essential service. This is the number one issue teachers face when dealing with the public. The inconvenience caused by labour disruptions is unfortunately what parents think about. They think less about the implications if teachers do not fight to preserve education.

Anonymous said...

Continuous free babysitting is always the highest objective. God forbid that they look after their own children for a few days! We would not dare inconvenience anybody when we are having collective action! I never heard of essential babysitting!

Anonymous said...

Ii am pondering the meaning of essential free babysitting. I would imagine the whole province would fall apart if there was no free babysitting for a few days! How would parents ever manage( including most teachers with children) if this service was cut off for a few days! Oh Lord spare us this chaos and breakdown of society as we know it! "Essential service" indeed!

Anonymous said...

So you are a bigot if you defend keeping the catholic education system and catholic union catholic? That accusation sounds like reverse bigotry. Look someone has a different viewpoint than you so. You must degrade them by calling them a bigot. There is intelligent conversation for you.

Anonymous said...

Halton Elementary Unit OECTA members don't forget to come out and vote for or against term limits for the Unit President this Thursday May 14 at 430p.m. at the Burlington Golf and Country Club.

Anonymous said...

Teachers are parents too so why would this be an issue?

Anonymous said...

Nina March got in due to an anti Richard Brock vote. Wonder what the vote would be today if she had viable opposition?

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous May 11,

Nice statistics Nina. Hope you aren't going to teach my kids math when you go back to the classroom!

Your real numbers.... 500 votes ÷ 1700 members = 29%. Hardly inspiring.

Anonymous said...

Read the Ontario Collective Bargaining Act and what interpretation I could find on OSSTF's website without a password. Will have to print it out (to be able to see it properly) and read it over again. I have heard that union negotiators are finding this negotiation like a 1960's contract. There is nothing there- thanks to the unratified MOU of 2012 that is the basis of negotiations!

Anonymous said...

We are the public too so give up trying to make nervous nelly arguments about what the public wants us to do with our collective bargaining! This mysterious "public" does not ask me before it goes on strike or work to rule so why should I ask them? This is a good argument for people who are scared of their own shadows and with what teachers put up in their classrooms they are definitely not scared of their own shadows! Give up the scare tactics and bargain (for the members this time please)!

Anonymous said...

These allegedly dissatisfied parents should go into a classroom and try teaching themselves. It appears that most of them can not handle 1, 2 or more children at home let alone 30 odd in a classroom. I tried a brief stint at teaching and decided I could not be a teacher, social worker, bouncer, peace-keeper, bookkeeper, psychiatrist and diplomat at the same time which is a normal teacher's day. You are undervalued and unappreciated although you perform miracles with these children!

Anonymous said...

Happy Halton member with some blinders on. How much did Nina pay you to write that? Do you still think that was a fair, legally run election? I wish I was so naive. I guess it is true that ignorance is bliss.

Anonymous said...

Correction on time for the Term limits vote on Unit President for Halton Elementary Unit. The time is 5:15pm at the Burlington Golf and Country Club on Thursday May 14, 2015. Unit members please show up to vote! Term Limits on the Unit President are a Best Practice used by greatly run units like the Toronto Elementary Catholic Teachers Unit. Term Limits control power and develop a pool of talented individuals to lead the unit. They also allow teachers to go back to the classroom after being Unit President and why not-we are all teachers after all.

Anonymous said...

I would also suggest some sort of danger pay bonus for teachers who work in schools with a high number of violent offenders as this can be very hazardous to the health of both other students and teachers. Teachers are not allowed to carry weapons to protect themselves.

Anonymous said...

One of the candidates for the TSU election today said not to be too critical of your union. I say to her you would be nuts if you were not very critical at this time. After the MOU giveaway and with the same parties at the bargaining table I am naturally VERY CRITICAL as a rational person with thinking ability that I USE.

Anonymous said...

Certain special education ailments also make these students volatile and perhaps teachers exposed to the dangers of their violent behavior should receive danger pay as well. They are not allowed to use handcuffs or restraint jackets to control danger when the student erupts (to protect themselves or other students)..

Anonymous said...

Teachers are also not allowed to put a hand on the violent or beserk student to restrain/stop him or they risk investigations and assault charges. They are d'ed if they do respond and d'ed if they don't. Welcome to teaching in the 21st century in Ontario! Our teacher unions have helped "a lot"(done nothing) about this inbalance that teachers face in their classrooms although you would think that these types of situations would be high on their priority list for resolution!

Anonymous said...

Your union has "helped" the situation by giving away your sick day bank so that you can't even have your nervous breakdown after you get attacked and sued in peace! Hold your union accountable!

Anonymous said...

I love the euphemisms the education authorities use, "Criminals in your Classroom"= "Fresh Start". It would not be so awful if they actually told you who these "Fresh Start" students were and what crimes they had committed so that you could be on guard when they EXPLODE. It would also be nice to know how many of these challenges are in your school an their rate of recidivism. Safety in the Schools?

Kulture Kult Ink said...

If you put these comments on "school safety" together they would make a good guest blog that I'd like to post. If so please email to me as a word file.

I wrote a series on teacher safety at school in spring 2011 especially regarding Sped, which continued thru 2012-13 in my blog arrchive. By law we should be protected, but good luck.

Kulture Kult Ink said...

As a citizen, should there be any difference between being assaulted, lets say at a MacDonalds, or at school? Yet assualts on teachers are rampant but little is ever done, even by our unions.

Kulture Kult Ink said...

Is your right to a safe workplace any different if you are a worker with a machine, or a teacher injured by a student?

Anonymous said...

Yes our union seems to be more worried about gay rights and Palestine than the safety of its Ontario teacher members in their classrooms. it is wonderful that we are paying our union dues for such relevant and "worthy" causes! Our personal safety in the workplace seems to have no relevance to the union bosses at all ( as long as teachers recover and continue financing them) The union bosses are out of the classroom danger themselves so why worry about it.

Anonymous said...

Assault is assault whoever is the assailant and should be treated as such! Most teachers are female so it is easier to target them especially when the assaults go unpunished and are covered up by the authorities to make the system look good and protect the "young offender".
Forget teaching these young people to take consequences for their actions! The message to the assailant is that you can do whatever you want to a teacher if you should find yourself in a bad mood or out of sorts one day ("you poor baby"). Forget taking control of your emotions and acting civilized; there is no need for that; when you have a nice "punching bag" right in front of you and no consequences. Besides you are young and you may come from a country where women are treated like dirt so why not continue your "lovely" tradition in Canada? That is also a convenient excuse for assault. "The poor teenager didn't know any better as he is a foreigner with different traditions." Aw, my heart truly bleeds for the poor dear!" Who cares about the teacher who shouldn't be permitted to live anyhow as they are teachers; with no protection whatsoever from the law and their union (although they are paying for the protection of a union with union dues and the protection of the law with their taxes). All the sympathy in the system is for the "perpetrator".

Anonymous said...

Here is an adaptation of a "Young Worker Awareness Program 7 things you'd better know" poster put out by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board done for TEACHERS. 1." There are hazards in every classroom and school 2. You need to be able to identify the hazards in your workplace 3. You have the legal right to protect your health and safety 4. Your employer, your supervisors and you all have responsibilities to make sure the workplace is healthy and safe 5. Your employer and your supervisor must ensure you have the information or required training and equipment you need to protect yourself 6. If you are injured or sick at the workplace you must report it to your supervisor or employer (principal or school board) 7. "It is not a game, you need to protect yourself". One would presume all these rights for workplace safety apply to teachers who are also workers although they may not be young....The law should apply equally to all workers.

Kulture Kult Ink said...

Nice! Good 2 know, but put them together y submit as guest blog: A LOT more readers will see it! Cheers! David C

Kulture Kult Ink said...

There should be zero tolerance for assault on teachers, no if and or buts. Sensitivity training for various cultural/ social groups might be made available for the offender in addition but not in leiu of other legall actions. Why dont our unions get it? Pretty basic!

Ms.Chievious said...

Perhaps we should change the OECTA acronym from Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association to Ontario Entitled Catholic Teachers' Association. If you disagree, check out the link below to view OECTA/SA's 2014-16 Collective Agreement:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-UcsAZLQ3GPYU9nWk1JNUUydG9NT0xnM0Y4SlAtYVpBS3BZ/view

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