YOUR FEDER ATION - ANNUAL MEE TING 2024


ETFO PRESIDENT KAREN BROWN OPENS THE 2024 ANNUAL MEETING


P


resident Karen Brown welcomed delegates to the 2024 ETFO Annual Meeting. Tanking ETFO’s 83,000


members, she also acknowledged local presi- dents and local leadership teams for their work supporting members. President Brown recognized the work


that ETFO members do to support students who are affected by war around the world. She spoke about the discussion at Education International’s 10th World Congress in Bue- nos Aires, where education unions pledged to condemn war and those countries com- plicit in war. Brown spoke about her meetings with


teachers’ unions in conflict zones including Ukraine and Gaza and reflected on Educa- tion International World Congress’ call for the urgent implementation of the UN Se- curity Council resolution demanding an immediate and lasting ceasefire, along with the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, the im- mediate and unconditional release of all hostages, action to prevent forced displace- ment, and the recognition of the rights of Palestinian people.


36 ETFO VOICE | FALL 2024 President Brown addressed last year’s bar-


gaining, emphasizing that ETFO and other unions fought hard to successfully secure central agreements for all ETFO members, in the longest bargaining round in history. “Te government didn’t just get up one day and decide that teachers and education workers deserved a raise,” she said. Tose agreements included the Bill 124


remedy, which went all the way to Ontario’s Superior Court, and that this additional fund- ing for ETFO members was unpaid wages that the Ford government unconstitutionally stripped from the last collective agreement. Reflecting on a possible early election and


noting that elections are about accountability Brown said, “ETFO members overwhelm- ingly want a new government.” “ETFO has been preparing to mobilize


our members to ensure that Ontario has a government that is committed to investing in public education and public services,” said Brown. “Trough the courts, at the bargain- ing table, and at the ballot box we need to continue to defend our members and defend public education,” she concluded.


PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE COUSINS


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