Continuing Education Instructors' Bargaining Unit Newsletter:

Volume 2, Issue 1: September 4, 2003

President’s Message

Welcome back, Instructors!

I trust you all had a great summer, and are ready to go at it again. Summer just never seems long enough, does it…especially for those of you who taught in Term 6. Hopefully, you were able to take a much needed rest.

With a new executive in place, I would like to welcome two new faces to this executive; Monica Zacharias has taken on the London Rep’s position, and Marilyn Light has taken on the Elgin Rep’s position. I am confident they will be there for you if you have any questions. Since the the President’s and Grievance officer’s positions , as well as the Secretary’s and Treasurer’s positions are now combined, there are two fewer people on our executive.

Linda Huber and I attended the 2003 OSSTF Summer Leadership Conference in Toronto, a very intense 3 days, but we learned some valuable information.

I will be working at Wheable this year, and so I’ll be more accessible to some of you. I will also be at the District 11 office most Friday afternoons. If you cannot reach me, please contact Wendy at the District office.

Good luck…..and have a great school year!

Ontario College of Teachers and PLPs

Please continue NOT registering your upgrading courses with the OCT. All reports from OSSTF say that we are, indeed, winning this battle, and negotiations are in progress to arrive at an alternative solution. We do ask, however, that you be keeping track yourself of all courses you take, as well as workshops and training you undertake.

Annual Learning Plan Forms

You have likely received a copy of an Annual Learning Plan form with a direction from the Principal to fill it in and submit it by Sept. 24. Technically, ALPs are part of the Teacher Performance Appraisal process which does not apply to Con. Ed. Instructors. However, the board’s "Supervision of Support Staff" policy does include a "Goal Setting Form" which is to be prepared and submitted annually. The two documents are very similar and so the Principal has opted to use the Annual Learning Plan form instead. The Principal and the Board have assured me that the Teacher Performance Appraisal process will NOT be used with Con. Ed. Instructors and so there is no problem with filling in and submitting the ALP as requested.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

Be sure to claim your new pay rate when submitting your pay sheets. Our rate increased again on Sept. 1,2003:

Group 2 Driver Education goes to $14.91

Group 3 International Languages goes to $16.85

Group 4 ESL, ABE, in-school driving instructors go to $20.81

Group 5 ABE, ESL, in-school driving instructors with OTC go to $29.15

Please check your Employee Portal to ensure that all the data is correct. Your sick time allotment should appear as hours, not days.

If you are requesting a Leave of Absence without pay after Jan.01, 2004, remember that the deadline to submit your request in writing to the board is Nov 01, 2003.

The OSSTF District 11 website contains some valuable information. I would suggest you browse through it. As technology advances, we will have less and less of a paper trail. I would like to think that, in the future, paper copies of our notices and newsletters will be ONLY posted on the website, and no hard copy will be forwarded to your schools. You will then be able to print your own hard copy if you wish to do so. Our newsletters are already on the website, so you can browse through them.

Negotiations

Thank-you for the great response to the survey that went out in June. We could tell that people are taking an interest, and came up with some good ideas. The results are being tabulated, and we will advise you in a following newsletter of the results.

By October, I hope to have had a response from the Provincial office regarding assistance with writing our Negotiations Brief. As soon as some dates are established, I will call the Bargaining Committee together, and we will be underway.

AMPA Delegate

We are seeking a CEI delegate for the OSSTF Annual Meeting of the Provincial Assembly (AMPA) which will take place in March 2004. AMPA takes place from Friday to Monday of the March break. It is a chance for anyone who is interested in the workings of OSSTF to see how the Federation is operated, and do some networking with members from other bargaining units.

If interested in attending, please e-mail me at: BarbOBrien@osstf11.com.

Mediation Council

Mediation Council was formed in 1996 and has a mandate to provide mediation services to members requesting assistance in the resolution of disputes with another member. The Council mediates disputes between OSSTF members when such disputes are not the subject matter of a grievance.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact either myself, or Wendy Hirschegger at the District office…phone # 659-6588.

Committees

We are still in need of members to sit on the following committees:

CEI Staffing Committee…1 person needed from LBS

CEI Mutual Concerns Committee….1 person needed from EACH of ESL and LBS

Employee Assistance Program…1 person needed…this committee meets quarterly.

In addition, the following District Committees need representatives from this bargaining unit. Descriptions of the mandates of the committees can be found on the District website.

District Political Action Committee….1 person needed (this should be an interesting committee with the election coming up on October 2.)

District Educational Services Services...1 person needed

District Communications/Excellence in Education Committee...1 person needed

District Human Rights and Status of Women Committee…..1 person needed

Please e-mail me before Sept. 20 if you are interested in sitting on any of these committees: BarbOBrien@osstf11.com.

Finally, there are two provincial committees that meet in Toronto throughout the year.

Linda Huber is representing us at ESSSC (Educational Support Staff Sector Council). This group meets 6 weekends throughout the school year. Thanks to Linda for giving up 6 weekends for us!

I will be your representative at Provincial Council meetings, which are also weekends. Provincial Council meets 5 times a year to conduct OSSTF business between Annual Meetings of the Provincial Assembly. I have not yet attended one of these meetings, so I will put something in a newsletter after I have done so.

District President’s Message

Welcome back! I hope everyone got an opportunity to enjoy some of the summer.

Although your first priority must be to your students, I urge all of you to find the time and the energy to actively participate in the election campaign by assisting in some way, the candidates we believe can defeat the Tories and represent our interests in preserving and improving Public Education.

Most members have received a letter from me identifying the candidate in your riding that OSSTF recommends supporting and outlining how to get involved.

THIS GOVERNMENT MUST BE DEFEATED.

Should they return to power, their agenda of privatizing education, devaluing teachers, and stripping our basic rights to collective bargaining, will continue, and the restoration of adequate funding for both public education and adult Continuing Education will be highly unlikely.

THIS IS OUR LAST CHANCE !!.

I encourage you to visit our website daily to find up to date election information. Our home page will provide links to many resources and to both the Liberal and NDP websites.

Let us not take thought for our separate interests, but let us help one another.
(OSSTF Motto)

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