Delegates Celebrate ETFO's First Decade at Annual Meeting 2008

Over 560 delegates from ETFO locals across the province attended ETFO's eleventh Annual Meeting in Toronto from August 11 to 14.  The two prevalent themes at this Annual Meeting were closing the gap in elementary funding and working conditions, and ETFO's 10th Anniversary. 

Banners were hung throughout the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel displaying the Close the Gap logo, and a new 10th Anniversary logo which will appear in all ETFO publications during the upcoming school year. 

At a special Annual Dinner celebrating ETFO's first decade, a retrospective video was shown to the provincial Executive, delegates, staff, and guests—which included all of ETFO's past presidents and members of provincial Executive, as well as many past presidents from ETFO's predecessor organizations: OPSTF and FWTAO. 

Other Annual Meeting highlights include:

• speeches from ETFO President David Clegg; the Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Minister of Education; the Honourable Howard Hampton, Leader of the Ontario NDP; and the Honourable Jean Augustine, Ontario Fairness Commissioner;
• the release of a number of resources for members, including a Member's Guide to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, a video highlighting ETFO's work in social justice and equity, and a [link no longer exists] comparing working conditions between elementary and secondary teachers;
• the presentation of a variety of awards honouring extraordinary achievements [link no longer exists] in the federation and in the community,  and
• the presentation of Honourary Life Memberships and the President's Award at the Annual Dinner.

Visit the Annual Meeting section of our website for full highlights, including photo albums and streaming videos.

As stated above, a major theme of Annual Meeting 2008 was the elimination of the gap in funding, and the disparity in working conditions, between the elementary and secondary panels.  In his President's Address on Monday, August 11, David Clegg stated that the federation was committed to a future in which elementary students and teachers are "...given the equal value and respect accorded to secondary students and teachers."  Clegg reminded delegates that ETFO had walked away from provincial framework talks in the spring because of the government's unwillingness to meaningfully address the funding and working conditions gap.  He concluded by stating his hope that the Minister of Education, in her speech the next day, would finally commit to ending over a century of discrimination in elementary education.

In her Tuesday [link no longer exists], Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne stated her government's belief that "...the work that is done in our elementary schools is as fundamental as that of our secondary schools" and that "the elementary and secondary panels are equally important."  However, she questioned "...whether equality is measured simply by money allocated on a per pupil basis...," and invited ETFO to return to provincial framework talks to continue discussing that point.

President Clegg responded later that day in a media release which questioned the government's commitment to closing the funding gap and achieving equality in the elementary panel. His closing statement was indicative of ETFO's resolve to right this historical wrong: "Minister Wynne said she is confident that our federation will come back to the provincial discussion table.  We will not do this until we see a clear commitment to closing the gap in learning and working conditions.”  

In a landmark decision released in June 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that collective bargaining is a right protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Look for more 'bites' of information on collective bargaining in future editions of @ETFO/FEEO.