COMPARING THE CURRENT ROUND OF BARGAINING TO THE PREVIOUS ROUND


Many members have noticed that the cur- rent round of bargaining feels different than the previous round in 2019-20. During that round, the government took an aggressive approach:


• Te Ford Conservatives tried to change the Kindergarten model, increase Junior/ Intermediate class sizes and cut special education funding.


• Tey wanted ETFO to agree to $150 mil- lion dollars in collective agreement strips, which would have resulted in cuts to our members’ sick leave and benefits.


“ETFO QUICKLY SAW THAT MEANINGFUL BARGAINING COULD NOT BE ACHIEVED WITHOUT MEMBER SUPPORT. IN-PERSON STRIKE VOTES WERE HELD ACROSS THE PROVINCE IN THE FALL OF 2019, WITH ETFO MEMBERS VOTING 98 PER CENT IN FAVOUR OF TAKING STRIKE AC- TION, IF NEEDED.”


• Tey passed wage restraint legislation, called Bill 124, capping salary increases to 1 per cent a year over 3 years. Tat tied ETFO’s hands at the bargaining table around negotiating salary, which is why ETFO went to court with other unions to make the case that Bill 124 interfered with bargaining and was unconstitutional.


• On top of that, the minister of education was constantly inserting himself into the bargaining process by spreading rumours and misinformation.


ETFO quickly saw that meaningful bar-


gaining could not be achieved without mem- ber support. In-person strike votes were held across the province in the fall of 2019, with ETFO members voting 98 per cent in favour of taking strike action, if needed. Job action by members in 2019 and 2020 forced the government to withdraw its demands for cuts, and we preserved Kindergarten, Junior/ Intermediate class sizes, special education funding, benefits, and sick leave.


THE CURRENT BARGAINING ROUND STARTED WELL FOR ETFO’S EDUCATION WORKER MEMBERS… THEN STALLED


Tis current round of bargaining started in the fall of 2022, and, for a while, we saw a dif- ferent approach from the government. Tis approach worked well for one of ETFO’s cen- tral bargaining tables – the Education Work- er Central Table where ETFO bargains for its 3,500 DECE, ESP and PSP members. ETFO made significant early progress at that table on key issues like education worker benefits, professional development, health and safety, and job security. Unfortunately, bargaining at the Education Worker Central Table has now


10 ETFO VOICE | FALL 2023


stalled because the government is insisting that ETFO provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in excess benefits contributions for strike days taken by members in the 2019-20 school year, over and above what ETFO al- ready paid years ago. At ETFO’s Teacher/Occasional Teacher


Central Table, where ETFO bargains for its 83,000 teacher and occasional teacher mem- bers, negotiations were delayed because there was disagreement about whether occasional teacher hiring practices should be bargained at the central table or locally. In September 2022, the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) was asked to decide that dispute. It took the board until December 2022 to issue a decision, and teacher/occasional teacher bar- gaining resumed in January 2023. Central bargaining for teachers and occa-


sional teachers continued to be painfully slow in the winter and spring of 2023. By May, ETFO became concerned about two things:


1. Te unwillingness of the government/ school board team to engage in meaningful, sustained, back-and-forth discussions about ETFO’s proposals around salary, benefits, special education supports, class size, violence in schools, and how to attract and retain qualified education staff.


2. Positions that the government/school board team are taking around benefits and sick leave that, if accepted, would result in significant cuts in those areas. Te salary offer being made by the government is also significantly below what was offered to CUPE education workers in the fall.


BARGAINING TOOK A TURN FOR THE WORSE THIS SUMMER


ETFO continued to bargain with the govern- ment/school board team this summer. We wanted to ensure that any strips they put on the table were removed, and that our members’ bargaining goals would be achieved. Unfortu- nately, what ETFO saw at the negotiations table this summer was more of the same: a lack of engagement in the bargaining process by gov- ernment and school board representatives. In addition, one of the issues that is being


actively bargained between the government and ETFO is early reading screening. Te gov- ernment was well aware that some of the bar- gaining positions it was taking violated profes- sional judgement language in ETFO’s Teacher/ Occasional Teacher Central Agreement. Rather than working with the Federation


collaboratively and respecting the statutory freeze* on expired collective agreements that


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