TEACHERS HOPE TO AVOID LABOUR DISRUPTION

By Kirk Winter

Colin Matthew, President of OSSTF District 15, which includes CKL, Haliburton and Muskoka, is hopeful that the province will soon take contract negotiations with high school teachers across the province far more seriously than they have been for the last four months. Matthew believes that an agreement is possible, and that teachers are simply looking to maintain the status quo in a system that is recognized as one of the top three educational systems in Canada.

Matthew shared that negotiations have gone poorly up to this point, with some scheduled full-day sessions ending after 15 minutes, with representatives of the government walking out saying there was nothing to discuss. Minister of Education Stephen Lecce has not made an appearance at a single negotiation session, unlike many of his predecessors like Kathleen Wynne and Janet Ecker who took an active role in the bargaining sessions. Matthew said that OSSTF is frustrated that the province refuses to put any offer down on paper for fear the teachers' union will make the government’s offers public on their website. As Matthew stated, “How do you counter and negotiate when the government refuses to make a single paper position?”

Matthew does not understand why the government is pushing so hard for outside mediation, when the Ministry of Labour has already seconded a skilled individual, who specializes in public sector contract negotiations, to the talks. Matthew fears that the government's desire for outside mediation is “pure distraction” and will do little to move the negotiations forward.

Matthew finds Minister Lecce’s fondness for press conferences rather than negotiations especially exasperating. The District 15 President stated many times during the interview that OSSTF simply wants a continuation of the current working conditions negotiated with the Liberals.Those conditions include the funding ratio at 22:1 and didn’t even contemplate students having to take mandatory e-learning credits online from some yet to be determined service provider.

In addition to those two issues, Matthew feels that a raise equivalent to the cost of living in each of the next three years is inherently reasonable. Matthew suggested that his members were not interested in the government’s offer of only 1 percent a year, because in reality that is a pay cut when inflation is factored in.

Matthew is troubled by the Minister’s focus on only three issues when he makes his public pronouncements: the funding ratio, the number of e-learning credits and how much more teachers might make.

Matthew says that the government would also ideally like to remove local maximum class sizes which could lead to secondary classes in excess of 40. Matthew would like to see the public consultations the province did with interested Ontarians early in 2019 made public. He expects that when the numbers are analyzed there will be even less support for e-learning and larger class sizes than the Minister lets on.

Matthew wondered if the government would also be hoping to take another run at teacher’s sick days and sick leave plans. The average number of days ill for local secondary teachers is 12, and Matthew argued that that number was actually closer to six days off a year when a handful of teachers fighting life threatening illnesses like cancer are removed from the average. Those teachers badly skew the numbers locally and suggest that perhaps there is a problem regarding absences that really isn’t there.

Secondary teachers on November 26 began to run information pickets spreading their side of the story. These pickets take place at school sites and in public places like Victoria Park in Lindsay and downtown Haliburton in front of the CIBC. Matthew said the public feedback has been positive, and on most educational issues the public is standing with teachers against the government.

Matthew says that OSSTF continues to hope that OPSBA, the Ontario Public School Board Association, will play a larger role in future negotiations rather than let the Minister of Education and his staff do the talking for them. As the employer, Matthew suggests that OPSBA should be taking a far more active role in the negotiations than they have. It has been reported by other media that this could be the last round of negotiations for school boards in Ontario as the province eyes taking over talks completely and doing away with school boards before the next round of municipal elections.

While Matthew held out hope for serious bargaining over last weekend, it looks like every public secondary teacher in Ontario will engage in a legal one-day strike on December 4, 2019.

When I asked Matthew why the other three teacher federations were not also walking out on December 4, he explained that they are all in different stages of negotiations with the province, and in the case of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association they are not even in a legal strike position yet.

Matthew stressed that a strike is certainly not a first choice for his teachers, but with 95.5 percent backing of the membership for job action if necessary, the District 15 President knows his members are ready. For most teachers currently in the system this could be their first time on the picket line as the last province wide job action came 22 years ago against the Conservative government of then Premier Mike Harris. Matthew earnestly believes that his District 15 staffs are engaged and ready for whatever the government throws at them.

Matthew said that all the teachers unions are after “is a good deal that avoids disruption for students.” He urged Minister Lecce to negotiate in good faith and avoid the temptation to turn bargaining into a battle of sound bites.

Matthew concluded our discussion by sharing his disappointment that local member Laurie Scott has not taken a more active role in pushing for a negotiated settlement that is fair to all involved. Matthew lamented the lack of “common ground” that currently exists between the member for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes- Brock and her government’s teachers.

It will be interesting to see how these contract negotiations go and how many days the Premier and Minister are prepared to see the schools closed. Many Queen’s Park observers believe that only when Premier Ford becomes personally involved with this negotiation will there be an outcome that will benefit teachers, students, school boards and the government as a whole. Premier Ford, we are waiting.