your fed­er­a­tion

Con­trol Your Future

ETFO launches its bar­gain­ing campaign

ETFO’s Novem­ber 2011 col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing con­fer­ence brought together 300 local pres­i­dents, nego­tia­tors, and mem­bers of col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing com­mit­tees. ETFO teacher, occa­sional teacher, and ESP/PSP col­lec­tive agree­ments expire next August. Col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing cam­paign mate­ri­als unveiled at the con­fer­ence include a spe­cially designed app for smart­phones. To down­load it and to find a wealth of col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing infor­ma­tion visit www.controlyourfuture.ca.

Con­fer­ence par­tic­i­pants took part in train­ing ses­sions out­lin­ing their roles and respon­si­bil­i­ties, col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing skills, and com­mu­ni­ca­tions skills and strate­gies. Mary Bell, pres­i­dent of the Wis­con­sin Edu­ca­tion Asso­ci­a­tion Coun­cil, described anti-union leg­is­la­tion some states have passed and the fight-back cam­paigns unions have staged. The next issue of Voice will have a full report.

Pres­i­dent Sam Ham­mond describes the process that led to the deter­mi­na­tion of ETFO’s bar­gain­ing goals on page 4. The bar­gain­ing goals are out­lined on page 7. Watch for more col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing news in the next issue of Voice and in the e-newsletter @ETFO/FEEO.

Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Coun­cil brings together local pres­i­dents and activists three times a year. At the Octo­ber meet­ing mem­bers are elected to Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Coun­cil com­mit­tees, includ­ing the ETFO bud­get committee.

ETFO par­lia­men­tar­ian Mary Karchemny (above) chaired the busi­ness ses­sion of the Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Coun­cil meeting.

Elected to the bud­get com­mit­tee for 2011–2012 were Karen Fisk, Hastings-Prince Edward; Suzanne Gill, Peel; Eugene James, Ele­men­tary Teach­ers of Toronto; George Tay­lor, Durham Occa­sional Teacher Local; and Dave Wild­man, Ottawa-Carleton Occa­sional Teacher Local.

Mem­bers elected to serve on the 2011–2012 steer­ing com­mit­tee are Gundi Bar­bour, Upper Grand; Anne Saltel, Keewatin-Patricia; Mario Spag­n­uolo, Greater Essex County; Sylvia van Campen, Upper Canada Occa­sional Teacher Local; and Ger­ard O’Neill, Durham.

Mem­bers elected to serve on the 2011–2012 selec­tion com­mit­tee for stand­ing com­mit­tees are Andrew Aloe, Upper Grand Occa­sional Teacher Local; Janet Fraser, Ottawa-Carleton; Jan Heinonen, Near North Occa­sional Teacher Local; Kelly Hol­ley, Algoma; and Ron Rivait, Lambton Kent.

Lead­er­ship

ETFO local lead­ers and com­mit­tee chairs attended work­shops in late Octo­ber designed to add to update them on new leg­is­la­tion and to pro­vide skills to assist them in their roles as local exec­u­tive mem­bers and chairs of local committees.

Speak­ers addressed such top­ics as social media, polling, pro­fes­sional learn­ing, health and safety, and equity and human rights.

Lawyer Robyn White out­lined the impli­ca­tions of anti-violence leg­is­la­tion for local leaders.

Social Jus­tice Con­fer­ence for Men

In May, ETFO hosted a two-day Social Jus­tice Con­fer­ence for Men with 55 par­tic­i­pants from all over the province. Funded by the min­istry of edu­ca­tion, the con­fer­ence focused on such issues as gen­der equity, racial bias, power and priv­i­lege, LGBTQ, poverty, and find­ing and becom­ing allies.

Par­tic­i­pants heard about new Web-based e-learning mod­ules that are part of the social media cam­paign It Starts With You, It Stays With Him, for use with Junior and Inter­me­di­ate stu­dents. These are now avail­able at itstartswithyou.ca.

Devel­oped by the White Rib­bon Cam­paign in col­lab­o­ra­tion with ETFO, one mod­ule pro­vides 30 min­utes of infor­ma­tion about teach­ing toward gen­der equal­ity and healthy rela­tion­ships. Included are les­son plans and doc­u­ments to sup­port the deliv­ery of school­wide events or pro­gram­ming around these issues.

Also avail­able is a col­lec­tion of short films by nine men about their jour­neys to man­hood. The themes cov­ered include father­hood, father­less­ness, peer pres­sure, rela­tion­ships, the use and expe­ri­ence of vio­lence. The accom­pa­ny­ing dis­cus­sion guide makes it easy to use the films in the classroom.

To access these resources use the user­name ETFO and pass­word Whi­teRib­bon. When you have explored the learn­ing mod­ule please fill out a sur­vey to pro­vide feedback.

—Adam Peer,

Exec­u­tive assis­tant, Equity and Women’s Services

Man­ag­ing stress: choose how to react

When it comes to man­ag­ing stress, it’s all in how you choose to react to it, accord­ing to work/life bal­ance expert Dr. Glenn DiPasquale.

“While stress may be unavoid­able, you can learn strate­gies to put stress in con­text and deal with it effec­tively,” DiPasquale told ETFO Lead­er­ship Con­fer­ence delegates.

Along with resist­ing the ten­dency to “cat­a­stro­phize” events, we can choose to be pos­i­tive and to laugh. “When we feel stress, our body pro­duces cor­ti­sol. Laugh­ter not only low­ers cor­ti­sol and stim­u­lates the immune sys­tem, its effects last well into the next day,” he says.

Not­ing that stress-related ill­nesses are respon­si­ble for 90 per­cent of vis­its to doc­tors, DiPasquale empha­sized bet­ter time man­age­ment, pri­or­i­tiz­ing, and learn­ing how to say no, and key lifestyle changes such as reg­u­lar exer­cise and quit­ting smoking.

“A low blood level of nico­tine mim­ics stress,” DiPasquale said. “What you’re really expe­ri­enc­ing is nico­tine with­drawal so when you have a cig­a­rette, there is instant release from that state, giv­ing you the false impres­sion that the cig­a­rette has relaxed you.

“As lead­ers, remem­ber that stress is con­ta­gious. You need to get hold of your stress and radi­ate calm­ness,” DiPasquale reminded his audience.

—Valerie Dugale,

ETFO media rela­tions officer

ETFO Mem­bers Recognized

ETFO mem­bers Simon Ives, Tanya Leary, and Lynn Wilkins have received Cer­tifi­cates of Achieve­ment as part of the 2010–2011 Prime Minister’s Teach­ing Awards.

Ives, a kinder­garten teacher at Hill­crest P.S., and Wilkins a teacher at Cour­cel­lete P.S., are mem­bers of the Ele­men­tary Teach­ers of Toronto Local. Leary, a teacher at Waab­gon Gamig First Nation School, is a mem­ber of the York Region Teacher Local.

The dead­line for the 2011–2012 awards is Jan­u­ary 9. For more infor­ma­tion visit www.pma-ppm.gc.ca.

DECE col­lec­tive agreements

Four ETFO locals rep­re­sent­ing des­ig­nated early child­hood edu­ca­tors (DECEs) have nego­ti­ated first col­lec­tive agree­ments. Sim­coe County, Rain­bow, Hal­ton, and Hamilton-Wentworth DECE mem­bers rat­i­fied their agree­ments this fall.