EDUCATION
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Students dazzle judges with science
The Ontario Labour Relations Board has ruled that the withdrawal of extra-curricu- lar activities by English elementary school teachers upset with new provincial legisla- tion constituted an illegal strike. “The withdrawal in combination or in concert of participation in voluntary co- instructional (or extracurricular) activities as listed in Appendix A and B in paragraph 27 of this decision constitutes a “strike” within the meaning of the Education Act ,” read the deci- sion posted by the OLRB. The decision is the result of a complaint by the Upper Canada District School Board and the Trillium Lakelands District School Board. The boards argued the withdrawal of ser- vices by elementary teachers upset with the provincial government’s Bill 115 was illegal. While the UCDSB highlighted the board’s ruling on that withdrawal of services by teachers constituted an illegal strike, mem- bers of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario including its president -- took to Twitter to trumpet a section of the ruling re- asserting that extra-curricular activities by teachers are in fact voluntary. “OLRB confirms what we have said from day one – individual ETFO members make their own decisions and have the right and freedom to do so,”wrote ETFO President Sam Hammond on Twitter shortly after the deci- sion was released. One of a number of embittered teachers taking to social media to vent about the de- cision, wrote “the OLRB’s decision has made me seriously consider not participating in additional duties for the rest of my career.” The UCDSB lauded the decision which states “the voluntary withdrawal of volun- tary co-instructional or extracurricular activi- ties constitutes a ‘strike’ within the meaning of the Education Act.” Both school boards “troubled by the in- creasingly hostile pressure placed on ele- mentary teachers by representatives of ETFO to continue to withdraw services and their participation in a number of activities,”filed a complaint with the labour board in January. “The application focused on how recent ac- tionsbyETFO interferedwith thenormal activi- ties of a school board, its schools, and school programs,”reads a statement from the board. David Thomas, UCDSB director of educa- tion, said the ruling “brings clarity for teach- ers and principals” that teachers are per- mitted to “freely choose” to participate in co-curricular or extracurricular activities. “This precedent-setting decision confirms that when a union is in an illegal strike po- sition, counseling to boycott activities is not permissible.” Teacher action illegal strike, OLRB rules GREG KIELEC GREG.KIELEC@EAP.ON.CA
GREG KIELEC greg.kielec@eap.on.ca
Len Peddle, a 15-year- Forty-eight participants from 11 area schools put their wits to the test to wow the judges at the 38 th annual United Counties Science Fair on Saturday. The day-long exhibition, during which ex- hibitors were quizzed by a number of judg- es about their scientific displays, wrapped up with an awards ceremony in the St. Law- rence High School cafetorium late Saturday afternoon. Chairman Jason Marshall, in announcing the awards ceremony, said the annual event creates “life experiences that will never be forgotten” by participating students. He also challenged participants to re- member that even if they did not win award, they did not lose. It just meant that some other projects were “slightly better” than their projects. A 15-year-judge, Les Peddle, took a mo- ment to speak to The Journal after a lengthy discussion with Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School student Kiran Hashmi about her project on a cheap, environmen- tally friendly way to clean silver. “What always amazes me is the creativ- ity of these students,” Peddle said, standing near a row of displays detailing everything from the viscosity of liquids to the use of in- novative building materials. The projects were judged on the ex- perimentation techniques used by stu- dents, as well the students’ ability to vo- calize their knowledge of their subject to demonstrate they have a true grasp of the goals and end results of their experi- ments, he said. “It’s the verbal part that puts it all togeth- er,” he said. “I’ve seen some interesting proj- ects over the years.” His only lament is fewer students are The EOMC, which represents more than 400,000 citizens in 11 urbanmunicipalities in eastern Ontario outside of the City of Otta- wa, has made reforming interest arbitration a key part of the group’s 2013 priorities, and has been lobbying the Liberal government on this topic. On Feb. 25 EOMC members met with Min- ister of Labour Yasir Naqvi, Progressive Con- servative leader Tim Hudak and a number of members of his caucus, and members of the NDP caucus to encourage all three parties to work together to fix arbitration. One of the key changes in Bill 44 would have been the establishment of a “capacity to pay” division within the Ontario Ministry of Finance that would collect and publish BILL: From Page 4
Photo - Greg Kielec
Len Peddle, a judge with the United Counties Science Fair, talks with Kiran Hashmi of Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School about her project on an environmentally friendly way to clean silver..
participating in the annual science fair, a trend which has been seen right across the country. Hashmi’s project evolved out of a con- versation with her mother about silver jew- elry which she was no longer wearing. Her mother told her she didn’t wear it anymore because the silver was tarnished. “I said I wanted to clean that silver,” Hash- mi told The Journal. The end result of her experimentation was a cost-efficient way of cleaning silver by information about interest arbitration in the public sector so that the average taxpayer would be better informed about arbitration awards. It also would have established a roster of qualified, minister of labour approved arbi- trators to replace the ad hoc system current- unaffordable settlements for municipal government workers on taxpayers.” “Under the current broken arbitration system, decisions are taking years to be reached and forcing increasingly
simply using a three-volt battery connected to two wires and a pan filled with a solution of water, salt and baking soda. The system allows its user to clean silver much more cheaply and safely than com- mercial silver polishers which can contain harmful chemicals why can cause hypos- mia, a loss of the sense of smell. “I think it (the commercial cleaner) has ad- vantages, but I think it has more disadvan- tages,” Hashmi said. “This is a cheaper way as well. Anyone can ly in place with no government oversight. McDonell said the current system “is not fair and is putting important services at risk – like fire trucks, police cruisers and health care services.” “Under the current broken arbitration sys- tem, decisions are taking years to be reached and forcing increasingly unaffordable settle- ments for municipal government workers on taxpayers. And all because the arbitrators who manage this system think local govern- ments can just keep raising taxes to pay for them.” McDonell said the Act had the support of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and numerous municipal councils, including Cornwall. “Yet the last time the PCs tried to pass a law making the changes they need, it was voted down by the Liberals and NDP.”
Legislation would have created capacity to pay division
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