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Union rally in front of Grant Crack’s office
During the past several weeks, the Upper Canada local has held similar protest rallies at the constituency offices of other Eastern Ontario MPPs, both Liberal and Conservative. Merpaw explained that the union is holding both the government and the Opposition parties to account for the current labour unrest in the education sector. “It wasn’t just the Liberals who voted for Bill 115,” she said. The union argues that Bill 115 circumvents the Ontario Labour Relations Act’s guarantee of the right to collective bargaining without interference between labour groups and companies or associations like school districts. The current contract between the ETFO and the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) expired the end of August 2012 and the two sides have been involved in negotiations since on a new contract. The union claims the provincial government, through passage of Bill 115, first tried to force the two sides to agree to a new contract before the end of June and the finish of the 2011-2012 school term. Now, the ETFO claims, the Education Ministry insists on a new agreement before the end of the year and is trying to usurp the UCDSB’s position as the party that makes a deal with the union. Merpaw said that past contract talks between the union and school districts in Ontario have taken anywhere from six months to more than a year to finish, depending on how fast both sides were
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
ROCKLAND | A crowd of visitors will be out in front of Grant Crack’s office this week but they may not be a welcome sight to the Liberal MPP. The Upper Canada local of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) will hold the fourth of a series of five public support rallies in front of Crack’s office on Friday afternoon Nov. 23. The rally is part of a protest against Bill 115, the provincial government legislation putting limits on contract talks between the teacher unions and Ontario’s school districts. “We are totally against Bill 115,” said Marge Merpaw, president for the ETFO Upper Canada local. “But it has nothing to do with money. It has to do with democratic rights.”
Photo Gregg Chamberlain
able to reach agreement on key issues. She said relations between the ETFO and the UCDSB have been fine so far during the current contract talks. “We weren’t in any rush and neither was the board,” she said. “We’re continuing to negotiate, we’re still working with the board.” She also noted that labour talks are not a matter of representatives for both sides sitting down and spending hours on a regular basis with each other. Both the UCDSB and ETFO have to schedule their contract talks around the other work that negotiators have to do along with the demands of other unions for contract discussion time with the school district. “We have to share the time that’s available,” Merpaw said. Meanwhile both the ETFO and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) have not called for province-wide strike action. The OSSTF has announced that 11 locals in the province have commenced
strike action with the approval of the union head office but none of those are in the Upper Canada District region. Both teacher unions have also given their members the choice of deciding on an individual basis whether or not they will continue for the duration to serve as coaches or sponsors for various extra- curricular activities at their schools like league or inter-mural sports or school club programs. These are all volunteer activities for teachers and are not required as part of their contracts with the school districts. “If they’ve chosen to take a break, that’s fine,” said Merpaw, regarding the ETFO’s position on volunteer activities. “If they’ve chosen not to, that’s fine.” Merpaw noted that many members of the local are frustrated with the government’s actions. “They’re angry and they’re hurt,” she said. “They feel they’re being treated in an unprofessional manner.”
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