Opening Statement



Tuesday 25 August 2015

OSSTF Deal: What They Got!

My Blogsite Acronym Guide is @ Here! 


OSSTF Prez Paul Elliott: another happy camper!

Well folks, yesterday I was out on Lake Mississaganon, Land o' Lakes, when a little birdie landed on my kayak! Now, as you may or may not know, internet service is spotty at best out that-a-way. We are waaaaaaay off the grid, surrounded by rock, rock and more rock, on the Canadian Shield. Eh?!? Nope, I don't have a satellite dish, no thank yew ... Anyhow, the lil' birdie explained that the following OSSTF Update has been making the rounds online while I've been away! Yup. So. What did OSSTF get in their new contract deal, pending a member ratification vote?!? And how do I know??? Ahem! Well .... I've always wanted to say this: A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD ME SO!!! Uh huh, the birdie said ......

August 21, 2015 • CB Issue 51 Negotiations Update 

Teachers/Occasional Teachers Central Table Negotiations Update Details of the tentative agreement between OSSTF/FEESO, the Ontario Public School Boards Association (OPSBA) and the Crown were presented to a meeting of Teacher/Occasional Teacher presidents and chief negotiators this afternoon. 
 
The assembled local leaders voted to endorse the tentative agreement and recommend it for ratification. As a result of this vote, all central strike action is suspended pending ratification of the agreement by Teacher/Occasional Teacher members.  

Overview of the Tentative Agreement

This agreement comes more than a full calendar year after negotiations began. Throughout that year, and through thirty often-frustrating days of negotiations, we successfully defended our collective agreements from unprecedented attacks by the management team. 

In the resulting agreement, there are:
   
• No strips to contract  language
• No change to a variety of targeted clauses, including but not limited to:
o Class  sizes 
o Assigned time 
o Additional Professional Assignments and Student Supervision 
o Extra-degree allowances 
o OT workload 

All of these items continue to be governed by existing clauses in local agreements. 

We did achieve some modest improvements in the following areas:
 
1. Salary

a. No change in 2014/2015  
b. Restoration of full grid movement as of Sept 1, 2015 
c. 1% lump sum payment to all Teacher and Occasional Teacher Bargaining Unit members for the 2015/2016 school year 
d. 1% raise  applied to all grids, wage schedules and Positions of Responsibility as of Sept. 1, 2016
 e. 0.5% applied to all grids, rates and Positions of Responsibility allowances as of 98th day of 2015/2016 school year

2. Family Medical Leave or Critically Ill Child Care Leave Supplemental Employment Benefit to top-up EI 

3. Sick Leave

a. 90% sick leave days increased from a maximum 60 day entitlement to a maximum 120 days for Long Term Occasional Teachers 
b. Adoption of a standardized medical form with limits placed on management’s access to medical information 
c. Expanded definition of sick leave to include personal medical or dental  appointments 

4. Teacher Professional Judgement

a. The inclusion of a definition of teacher Professional Judgement (as per “Growing Success” document) and recognition of its application to assessment, evaluation and reporting 
b. Teachers will be consulted regarding any changes to students’ marks or grades 

5. Hiatus on new Ministry initiatives until May 31, 2016 

6. One additional P.A. day within the current length of school year 

7. Benefits

a. Memo on movement to a union self-run provincial benefits plan with funding guaranteed at 2014/2015 levels with a 4% inflationary adjustment for 2015/2016 and an additional 4% inflationary adjustment for 2016/2017. 
b. An additional $300/FTE for benefits funding once bargaining units move to the provincial plan 
c. A clause providing for further benefits funding to match any increases achieved by the other affiliates

Membership meetings will be scheduled in each District in September, where the full details of the agreement will be provided. Each bargaining unit’s ratification process will be outlined by local leaders.  

Support Staff Central Table Negotiations Update  

As noted in CB Issue 50, further bargaining dates for the Support Staff central bargaining table have been scheduled for August 28 and September 23, 24 and 25. On Saturday, August 22, a meeting of Support Staff local leaders in attendance at Leadership 2015 will take place to discuss next steps in light of recent developments.  

PS: Underlining by a little fishie ..... glub .... glub .... glub .....

"Hey!!! Get Off my kayak you .... you .... you little fishie!!!!! You too Ms Birdie!!!"


Thinks to himself: "Why o' why will nobody play "bumper boats" with me anymore?!? Sigh! Alas! ...."

RELATED LINKS:

OPSBA initial proposal @ OPSBA

Much more Teacher Summer 2015 News + Views Links @ Here!

Teacher Free Speech 2015 Summer Contract Guide @ There!

COMMENTS: 

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The idea of a federation run benefits plan intrigues me because there is the possibility of additional benefits and/or payouts that could supplement any future pay increases.

I remember a teacher years ago telling me about the importance of our benefit plans because quite often it impacts our take home pay.

Kulture Kult Ink said...

Catholic LGBTQ teachers could no longer be denied family benefits on religious grounds either! Very sad but true!

Anonymous said...

If there is a provincial benefit plan it will strip current benefits from many members...just like the provincial LTD plan forced many members to pay much more for an inferior plan.

Anonymous said...

Is anyone else bothered by the fact that those involved in the negotiations are getting their pockets lined by moving toward a provincially run benefit plan. OTIP is run by the same people.

I'm sure they sold us out agreeing to 2.5% over 3 years because they were happy the province agreed to the benefits piece. Another example of the Whynne and the board getting paid off while the rest of us suffer.

David, your thoughts?

Anonymous said...

This whole round of bargaining appears to be another collective debacle for the federations. The school boards hoodwinked the unions with their "strip a lot give a little" strategy and we all bought in to the scare tactics so now we feel all warm and fuzzy about these sub par deals. Just a matter of time until ETFO folds like OSSTF and OECTA and we hear what a triumph this has been for free collective bargaining and we turned back the OPSBA tide...and oh by the way your salaries will be eroded by another 3 to 4% over the next two years! Teachers in Ontario need to say no to these agreements just like the teachers in Saskatchewan did twice last year...and in doing that ended up with a 7.5% salary increase.

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