YOUR FEDERATION


2014


ANNUAL MEETING


P


SAM HAMMOND’S OPENING ADDRESS


resident Sam Hammond opened the ETFO 2014 Annual Meeting with a refl ection on ETFO’s victories over the past year in the face of challenges


that “were varied and at times daunting.” The president began by thanking the


provincial and local leaders for their hard work in making tough decisions about how to best serve ETFO members. He commended ETFO members for standing together in the face of ongoing threats to public education and collective bargaining.


Hammond applauded ETFO’s efforts


to defeat the Tim Hudak Conservatives in the June 12, 2014 provincial election and affi rmed ETFO’s decision to support strong NDP and Liberal candidates


in


ridings across Ontario. He acknowledged the mixed feelings of members in sup- porting Liberals so soon after Bill 115, but said the “risks of a Hudak government were too great.” Hammond spoke of the quiet victory


ETFO achieved in helping to develop a more fair and balanced bargaining process


under Bill 122, the School Boards Collective Bargaining Act, 2014, which came into effect on April 8, 2014. He praised the efforts of ETFO, other teacher affi liates and CUPE for working together to develop amendments for the new two-tiered bargaining legisla- tion that now governs education sector bar- gaining in Ontario. Hammond also highlighted ETFO’s ex-


emplary work in many other areas, includ- ing such initiatives as the Building Better Schools campaign, Summer Academy cours- es, AQ courses, and ongoing work in equity, social justice and unionism. He fi nished his address by acknowledg-


ing the uncertainty that a new bargaining process poses, but assured delegates that ETFO is ready and is relying on the support of the whole membership: “Our power as a union depends on our members.”


ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO 9


PHOTOS BY KATHRYN GAITENS


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