Bargaining for a Bright Future (From the General Secretary)
ETFO collective agreements expire at the end of August 2012 and bargaining for new agreements is about to begin. As we move into active bargaining, members can expect to be challenged about what we are asking for in our next contract.
In this climate of economic uncertainty, there is a great deal of fear and confusion about what is needed for the economy to recover. Most often what we hear is austerity, cuts to government spending, cutbacks in public services, lower wages and benefits for public sector workers. However, both in the long and the short term, investing in vital areas of the public sector makes financial sense. As Douglas Porter Chief Economist BMO/Nesbitt Burns said, “Governments shouldn’t be aggressively cutting spending when the economy is gasping for air … That’s certainly the wrong prescription.”
Unfortunately with the attack on the public sector has come an attack on unions. I don`t need to tell you why unions matter, and not only to their members. Unions contribute to the wealth and prosperity of society overall and are the reason most of us have workplace rights today. No country, as noted in a recent Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives article, has ever achieved widespread prosperity and created a large middle class without unions.
People fare better when they join together in a common interest. ETFO members should never apologize for having good working conditions. What we need is to raise others up so that they have good working conditions as well. In a climate where corporations have made tremendous profits while people have lost their jobs and homes, it is important not to internalize the rhetoric that there is not enough. There is enough. The real issue is who gets what there is, a revenue not a spend- ing question that raises the issue of corporate tax cuts.
As educators we face an important question. How do we want our kids to grow up? What is the greatest impact we can have on ensuring they have a bright future, one in which all have good working conditions and democratic and social rights and freedoms are valued. It is essential that we focus on our desire to raise each other up, instead of pulling each other down.
Our goal, as we go into this round of bargaining is to maintain good jobs and good learning conditions today and into the future. Let’s create healthy, constructive learning environments for our students. Let’s use our collective strength for our members, our students, and the future. Our solidarity makes it possible.
