YOUR FEDER ATION
ETFO ANNUAL MEETING 2023
Close to 700 ETFO delegates attended the 2023 Annual Meeting between August 14 and 17, 2023, setting policies and directions for the coming year. Tis year, ETFO also celebrated its 25th anniversary. ETFO was created in 1998 – bringing together the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario and the Ontario Public School Teachers’ Federation as one, strong union. Since its formation, ETFO has won many improvements in working conditions, defended members’ rights, made equity and social justice key priorities, and protected Ontario’s public schools.
PRESIDENT KAREN BROWN – OPENING ADDRESS E
TFO President Karen Brown began her speech by expressing sincere gratitude to ETFO’s 83,000 members for their work in
classrooms and communities across the province. In the last year, ETFO has faced down and chal-
lenged bad legislation, she added. First was Bill 28 which imposed a contract on CUPE, denying their Charter Protected right to free-collective bargain- ing, including a notwithstanding clause in the leg- islation, and ETFO joined with the entire labour movement to say “No” and the government was forced to back down. Ten ETFO, along with allies in the labour movement challenged and defeated Bill 124, the wage restraint legislation, restricting the ability to negotiate meaningful salary increases, which continues to affect this round of bargaining. “A government that values public education
doesn’t cut education funding by an equivalent of $1,200 per student – yet the Ford government has made these cuts at the same time students are crammed into packed classrooms and special edu- cation students aren’t getting the supports they need and deserve,” said Brown. Te president noted that the ETFO central bar-
gaining team has been working all year to try to ad- dress concerns in education, but the government has refused to engage meaningfully, offering strips to salary, benefits, and working conditions instead. “We have reached a tipping point. ETFO’s pa-
tience has run out. Our members’ patience has run out,” said Brown before making an important announcement for ETFO members. “Today, I am announcing that ETFO will be engaging with our members this fall and asking them for a central strike mandate.”
“TODAY, I AM ANNOUNCING THAT ETFO WILL BE ENGAGING WITH OUR MEMBERS THIS FALL AND ASKING THEM FOR A CENTRAL STRIKE MANDATE.”
ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO 35
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE COUSINS
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