Teachers' Union Wary Of Government Motives

Jeff Green | Aug 23, 2012

Mike Lumb, the President of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario – Limestone (ETFO) and Elizabeth MacDonald, the President of Local 27 of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), both wonder why the provincial government is saying special legislation is required to ensure an orderly start to the upcoming school year.

“It was never our intention to be on any type of job action at the beginning of September,” said Elizabeth MacDonald in a phone interview early this week.

“We never said we will not go back at the beginning of the school year,” said Mike Lumb.

Contracts for the members of both union locals, whose members include all elementary and secondary school teachers and other staff in the Limestone Board, expire at the end of August, but all previous negotiations with the board have commenced after the agreement expired, with the terms of the expired agreement rolling over until a new agreement was negotiated. Negotiations are set to begin next week for the OSSTF, and the teachers will be at the table as planned.

The legislation that is being brought before the provincial legislature may or may not go through as tabled, according to Elizabeth MacDonald, so the OSSTF is not going to change their negotiation plans at this time.

Both unions will be holding strike votes in the coming days or weeks, and both Lumb and MacDonald say that is something they always do at the beginning of a negotiation process, in order to give their negotiators some leverage at the bargaining table.

Although negotiations have not commenced at the local level, there have been province-wide negotiations to deal with some of the global issues, including wages.

“In the spring we offered a wage freeze for two years, which is really a wage cut when you take inflation into account,” said MacDonald, “but what they are looking to do is strip out contracts.

The province is planning to change its policy regarding teachers’ pay grid. The new policy would halt teachers’ progress along the grid for their first 11 years on the job. Increases for educational upgrades will also be frozen, leading union officials to complain that the new contracts will hit newer teachers much harder than more experienced teachers who are already at the top of the grid. The province is also insisting on a cut in sick days from 20 to 10 each year if the teachers sign a deal, and 6 each year if a deal is imposed, according to Elizabeth MacDonald.

Mike Lumb said that the elementary teachers’ union has never even had an opportunity to sit down with the province. He said, “During the previous negotiations we were penalized 2% for not following their bargaining rules, so this time we have been asking them to clarify what the rules are, and they have just refused to sit down with us.”

The provincial government says that legislation is required at this time to ensure that no increases in salaries occur when the contract expires on August 31, because “roll over” clauses in the existing contracts will bring in pay increases.

In a media release last week that coincided with the decision to call back the legislature early to deal with the “Putting Students First Act”, government House Leader John Milloy said, “Now, as parents start preparing for the upcoming school year, they need the certainty of knowing that their children will have a full school year, free from labour disruptions. And they need to know that the government will take the necessary steps to protect the gains that we have made in education.”

The agreements that the government is planning on imposing on English language public school teachers is the same one that has been accepted by Catholic school teachers in the province.

Mike Lumb said, “They basically bullied two unions into accepting the agreement and now they are shoving it down everyone else’s throats. This is not a negotiation.”

Another aspect of the legislation is timing, according to the two union leaders. The Liberals are in a minority position and both opposition parties have pledged they will oppose the bill. The NDP oppose it because it is anti-union and they say it will likely lead to an expensive court challenge, and the Conservatives oppose it because they say it does not go far enough. However, if the Liberals are able to win two by-elections, which take place on September 6, they will be able to pass the legislation without opposition support.

If “Putting Students First” proves popular in Kitchener and Vaughan, the ridings where the by-elections are being held, it might tip the balance towards the Liberal candidates.

For his part, Premier McGuinty, noting that the legislation could damage the “deep well of goodwill” his government has enjoyed with teachers across the province for 9 years, said “this is not an easy time and it makes for more difficult relationships. Understandably so."

According to Education Minister Laurel Broten, if passed, the legislation would save $473 million this school year.

It would also ban teachers’ strikes for two years.