Representative Council May 13-14, 2015 The May Representative Council meeting opened with President Sam Hammond thanking local leaders for their input and feedback on Phase 1 of the work-to-rule strike action that began on May 11.
ETFO is a union that takes action even in the quietest of times. But these are not quiet times, and ETFO’s activism is at the heart of an organization that cares about the future of public education and the social justice and equity issues that affect women, children, families and communities in Ontario and beyond.
By the end of September my frustration with one of my students had risen to the point that I no longer knew what to do or how to get through to her.
President Hammond welcomed Representative Council members to their first meeting at ETFO’s new building. With the completion of the 2012 round of collective bargaining earlier in October, President Hammond thanked local presidents for their unwavering leadership over the past two years.
ETFO is committed to working toward a more just and equitable society, and has a particular commitment to supporting women’s participation and leadership in the union.
The large majority of new members are women. (Just over 80 percent of all ETFO members are women.) This makes gender an ever-present dimension of union revitalization.
The concept of a Girls’ Leadership Conference sprang from a successfulthree-day Girls’ Leadership Retreat with 80 Grade 7 girls. These same girls and eight teachers who attended the retreat were also invited toattend the conference.
When Cheryl MacMillan was 11 years old she and her family discovered she was deaf. The revelation changed her life — not for the better.
Member concerns about EQAO testing dominated ETFO’s 2010 annual meeting. President Sam Hammond called on the government to temporarily halt province-wide testing and reduce the resulting number of Ministry initiatives.