Provincial Framework Talks: What happened? 

Video Transcript 

There has been a great deal of confusing information in the media regarding our discussions over the last week to achieve a framework for local collective bargaining.  I’d like to clear up that confusion and tell you what actually took place.

On November 29th, the Minister of Education invited me to her office to encourage ETFO to return to a provincial discussion table to reach a framework agreement with the Ontario Public School Boards' Association, OPSBA.  You should know that OPSBA is a voluntary association of school boards without any legal responsibilities for collective bargaining.

On Sunday, November 30^th the ETFO team spent the day exploring in detail the financial parameters under which the government expected us to work.  Shortly before midnight we agreed to return to the provincial discussion table with an extended deadline date of Friday, December 5^th.

From Monday to Friday, we met with OPSBA officials and had discussions that were facilitated by representatives of the Minister of Education.

By Friday, various proposals had been considered. 

ETFO Offers to Give Up Salary to Improve Learning Conditions for Students

By mid-day Friday, ETFO presented an offer to the boards that met all of the government’s financial conditions.  

Our original intent had been to completely eliminate the gap in teacher working conditions.  Given the current economic climate, we modified both our goal and our timeline. The offer we presented to the boards met the approval of the government and provided a number of substantial benefits for elementary education in Ontario.

ETFO proposed a 0% salary increase in the fourth year of the agreement.  This would have saved the boards tens of millions of dollars.  That money would have been reinvested in hiring one thousand, five hundred new teachers across Ontario.  The impact of this would have been:

• First, a greater number of specialist teachers to provide more comprehensive learning experiences for children;
• Second, fewer over-crowded classrooms in the  junior and intermediate divisions;
• Third,  a potential solution to address the closing of schools in small communities; and
• Fourth, the establishment of a common standard for enhanced maternity leave benefits.

OPSBA has stated in the press that ETFO’s proposal would leave the boards with a $260 M shortfall.  That is simply not true. ETFO’s offer was within the financial parameters set by the government.  The government did not dispute the costing of our proposal and was prepared to support it.

Let me make this clear: ETFO did not ask for any additional funding beyond that already committed by the provincial government.  I’ll say that again.  We did not ask for any additional funding.

In effect, we offered the boards peace and stability over the next four years.  We committed to reaching collective agreements in every board by March 31, 2009, that would have ensured no strikes or lockouts.  These collective agreements would have been in place until August 31, 2012.

OPSBA Attempts to Roll Back Improvements in Working Conditions Negotiated in 2005

What the boards proposed would have clawed back most of the improved working conditions that we bargained for in 2005. They asked us to accept clauses that would have stripped existing rights and undermined the professional autonomy of teachers, including existing collective agreement provisions regarding staff meetings, prep payback, and the use of PA days.

Their offer would have restricted the use of any enhanced preparation time by placing it under the direction of school principals.

This offer would have resulted in an additional 100 minutes of supervision time each week which would mean less time to prepare for classes and to provide extracurricular activities.

In addition, what arbitrators have never awarded to the boards, they were trying to force into agreements at the provincial discussion table.  In proposing to do this, the boards broke the ground rules that had been established for these discussions.

Finally, there was no commitment on the part of the boards to improve working conditions for the more than 20,000 public elementary occasional teachers in Ontario.

Based on their proposal, it was obvious that the school boards entered these discussions with no intention of bargaining collaboratively in the spirit of reaching an equitable agreement.

OPSBA Makes a 'Monumental Blunder' in Rejecting ETFO's Offer

After this very long and extremely frustrating process, it is incomprehensible that the boards would reject an offer that:

• met the government’s fiscal restrictions,
• created 1,500 new jobs in a time of high unemployment at no additional cost,
• improved learning conditions for children and working conditions for teachers,
• increased  safety in schools,  and
• ensured peace and stability over the next four years.

To have rejected such an offer is indefensible and irresponsible.

Over the last two months I have travelled across the province meeting with members.  They have told me that it’s not about a one percent difference in salary.  It’s about having classroom conditions that help students learn and working conditions that help teachers do the job they were hired to do.  They have also made it clear that the federation should recognize the current economic climate in trying to achieve collective agreements.  I believe we have done that with our proposal to accept no salary increase in the fourth year of the agreement.

As the result of the monumental blunder made by OPSBA, we are now faced with the prospect of negotiating two-year collective agreements. Your continued support will ultimately bring a successful outcome in these challenging times.