This year we celebrate an important milestone, ETFO’s 20th anniversary. In 1998, when the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario (FWTAO) and the Ontario Public School Teachers’ Federation (OPSTF) joined to form ETFO, we faced a devastating attack on public education and the teaching profession by the government.
ETFO’s 20th anniversary is an opportunity to look back on our remarkable legacy as an organization. Since our formation in 1998, we have worked tirelessly to ensure the health and safety of our members and our students and made important gains for our members through collective bargaining.
With this issue of Voice, we consider the importance of collective action as we move forward under the new Conservative government and some of the pressing issues facing us in our classrooms.
Voice has been awarded the Canadian Association of Labour Media’s 2018 Katie FitzRandolph Award for best regular print publication.
Every year, Voice publishes a women’s issue focussed on the politics and intersections of feminism, equity and women’s leadership. I am so proud to be part of an organization that does this work.
This issue of the magazine reminds us of the work we do in our classrooms and communities every day for equity, and of the tremendous amount of work that has yet to be done.
The summer issue of Voice is our women’s issue, an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of our women’s programs and our women members.
We need to elect a government that will be committed to decent work, a well-funded public education system, better public services and a strong social safety net for all Ontarians.
Our commitment to equity and the environment means that we must elect a government in Ontario that takes justice and fairness seriously.