I’d like to begin the last column of this school year by saying a big thank you to our members. This has been a very challenging year of contract discussions with the government. It has also been incredibly powerful and inspiring.
ETFO members have spent the last year standing up for the right to engage in free collective bargaining. In the process, we experienced some rude awakenings: a Liberal government that betrayed a decade-long relationship with education professionals and a growing bias against unions. The broader context of this experience helps us to both better understand the anti-union sentiment and fight against it.
The past year of negotiations has been a difficult one, but ETFO members have continued to stand strong and, through their solidarity, demonstrate that we are a force to be reckoned with.
The past year of negotiations has been difficult for ETFO and other public sector unions. With the release of the Drummond report in February, the government began a systematic assault on public sector workers.
Educators come to their profession as a calling. We do so because we believe we have something important to contribute to the children who will shape our society and build our future.
Teachers often talk about coming to our profession as one comes to a calling.
As the vice presidents and I have travelled around the province over the last two months meeting with members to discuss the parameters tabled by the government at the Provincial Discussion Table, some questions have consistently been raised. I would like to share them here.
For ETFO the October provincial election was a success story: we worked hard to ensure the election of a majority of education-friendly candidates and that goal was accomplished with the election of 53 Liberals and 17 New Democrats.
Early in 2011, the five members of ETFO’s Political Action Committee (PAC) are focused on a test that is still several months away. These classroom teachers are thinking not about EQAO, but about the outcome of the next provincial election.
