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OSSTF District 11- Thames Valley
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District 11 Office |
Education Matters Online
News
Volume 3, Issue 1: November 10, 2004
District and Bargaining Unit Presidents' ReportsClick on any of the items below to go directly to that article. |
District
President/Teachers' Bargaining Unit President: Wendy Anes
Hirschegger
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District / Teachers' Bargaining Unit President: Wendy Anes Hirschegger
I hope that everyone had a smooth and enjoyable start to this 2004-2005 school year.
Here in the District Office, the year has been an eventful one so far:
 | We are still in our temporary office location because the renovations of our Industrial Road office building are not yet complete. Alas, as is the case with any construction project, one is always at the mercy of the availability of sub-contractors and material. The latest word is that we may be able to move back in by the end of November. | ||||||||||
| Three of our four bargaining units are in negotiations this year. The negotiation teams of the Teachers' Bargaining Unit and the Continuing Education Bargaining Unit have met with the Board several times already; the Continuing Education Teachers' group and the Occasional Teachers' contract will be negotiated in conjunction with the Teachers' contract. | ||||||||||
| We have a new Federation Services Officer working in the District Office. On September 30, the District Executive Council endorsed the appointment of David Russell to fill the position that became vacant when Don Edgar submitted his retirement notice to the Board during the summer. Dave was released from his teaching duties and was able to start in the District Office on October 12. Dave has taken over as the Office Manager, the district contact for the TBU Long Term Disability plan, one of the OSSTF Representatives on the Joint Health and Safety Committee, liaison to the Occasional Teachers' Bargaining Unit and to the Political Action Committee, to name the major parts of his portfolio. | ||||||||||
| We have begun our lobbying efforts with the area MPPs. We are
emphasizing several things:
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We wish to extend our thanks to Don Edgar for all of the diligent work he has done and contributions that he has made to OSSTF over the length of his career. He has joined the Occasional Teachers' Bargaining Unit and we wish him all the best in this new phase of his life.
We were very saddened to learn of the unexpected death of Win Schell, the President of the Active Retired Members - Chapter 11 group. On behalf of the district, I sent a card expressing our condolences to his family and asked Laurie to send a donation in his memory to the Kids' Help Phone, OSSTF's designated charity. Mike Moir has taken over as Acting President of ARM Chapter 11.
Finally, I encourage all members to support the United Way drive which is going on at the present time. This year’s campaign will run from October 1 - 29. As an incentive for TVDSB employees to return their pledge cards - our community supporters have generously donated some terrific prizes - to be eligible for one of these prizes you must return your pledge card to your site representative. Your United Way Committee encourages you to consider making your donation through payroll deductions, your T4 shows your donation to make for easy income tax filing and it ensures continuous income to the many needy agencies supported by the United Ways of Oxford, Elgin and London-Middlesex.
Continuing Education Instructors' Bargaining Unit President: Barb O'Brien
Job descriptions will flow from the pay equity settlement, and banding will also have to be done.
The other high note was that the Board notified us that they were ready to begin negotiations! Last time, we waited 3 years for this to happen. This year we waited 3 months. We had our meeting on September 22 to present our brief to the Board, and we have set 6 more dates between now and the end of November. It appears as though 2004/2005 will be a good year for our unit.
Professional Student Services Personnel Bargaining Unit: Marlies Sudermann
(Information provided by Nancy McDougall, FSO Liaison to the PSSP.)
Our PSSP Executive has had some changes from last
year. Our congratulations to all those holding new positions. Members new to
their positions on the PSSP Executive include:
President - Marlies Sudermann
Vice President - Sandra Miller
Chief Negotiator - Craig Read
Grievance Officer - Janet Donkervoort
PSSP Pay Equity negotiations with the Board continue to progress slowly.
While we have had Job Evaluation and Steering Committees in place since last
fall, dates have not yet been scheduled with the Board or with Provincial
OSSTF to provide the training for these committees nor to begin the work of
examining changes in circumstance to some of the job classifications within
the PSSP bargaining unit.