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Volume 3, Issue 5: June 27, 2005

District President: Wendy Anes Hirschegger

Report to the District Annual General Meeting

My first year as the President of OSSTF District 11--Thames Valley has been an eventful one to say the least! There were days when I thought to myself, "What on earth have I gotten myself into?" however, overall, it has been a positive year, and I look forward to my second year as your District President.

As you will recall, we started the 2004-2005 school year still in our temporary office in the Fairmont Plaza, not so affectionately dubbed by one of the district office staff as "Industrial Dump". Those of you who may have had occasion to visit us there will know how very apt that nickname was! In any case, and although it seems like another lifetime now, we were stuck there until the end of November because one delay after another had pushed back the date several times. There was universal rejoicing when, on November 30, we finally moved back "home" to Industrial Road. While they took a long time, our renovations have provided us with a much improved office building. The work didn't let up though, and so I don't think that I will be completely unpacked and reorganized until sometime over the summer.

We also started the school year short one Federation Services Officer, a retirement from the office having come in over the summer, and so we posted the position in September, and by Thanksgiving we welcomed new FSO Dave Russell into the District Office. At this point, I would like to thank all four of our Federation Services Officers--Mary Lou Cunningham, Nancy McDougall, John Bernans and Dave Russell for their tireless work on behalf of OSSTF in general and District 11 in particular. The District is very well served by their dedication to the membership.

Another integral part of the District Office team is, of course, Laurie Lafraniere, our Administrative Assistant. It is her cheerful voice that you undoubtedly hear upon calling the office. She assists all of us very capably and professionally and I wish to extend our thanks to Laurie at this time also.

We have had a busy year in terms of the business of the District as well as provincially.

At the District level, we have three bargaining units (Teachers, Occasional Teachers and Continuing Education Instructors) which have been without contracts since August 31, 2004 and negotiations for each of them are on-going. We hope to have settlements sooner rather than later but at this point these bargaining units are still at the table. The fourth bargaining unit, the Professional Student Services Personnel unit, is in the midst of preparing their negotiating brief in anticipation of beginning negotiations to renew their contract which expires on August 31, 2005.

Provincially, this was an election year and we had two District 11 members running for provincial positions. Ken Coran came very close to unseating the incumbent President (in fact, it is the closest any challenger has ever come to doing so) and was re-elected very decisively to the position of Vice-President. In addition, Dave Russell threw his hat into the ring for the position of OTF Governor and came very close to winning one of those positions. His campaign got his name out there into the provincial scene and so, in two years, should he decide to run again, he will be much better known.

Other than that provincial OSSTF executive election, so far (and I'm keeping my fingers crossed here), we have been election-free as far as the broader society goes this year. After last year's exhausting year for the Political Action Committee, where they started the year in high gear for the provincial election, then moved straight into the trustee elections in November and then finished the year with a federal election, the committee has had some well-deserved respite this year. It does however look like there may be another federal election sometime within the next year and so I am certain that Chair Andrew Smith will very capably mobilize the committee for that event.

The Educational Services Committee under Chair Kathy Wildfong and the Human Rights/Status of Women Committee chaired by Bryan Smith again provided lots of opportunities for professional development for members. Together, these two committees presented a very successful set of workshops under the theme "Bullying: Make it STOP!" on May 5 during Education Week. Bill Bryce, the Director of the Thames Valley District School Board, dropped by and was so impressed that on May 10, following the presentation of the Safe Schools Report, he made particular mention of this event and commended OSSTF for its initiative in this regard. Thank you to all those committee members who organized and put on this event and to the members who attended! Both committees also provided other avenues for PD for members, Educational Services through financial assistance to members attending conferences and Human Rights/Status of Women through their "Action Resource Parties" where the attendees get valuable resources to take back to their schools and worksites.

Once again, our students and members shine and it is our very great pleasure to celebrate their accomplishments. This year, we had two provincial Marion Drsydale contest winners, and two of our members won provincial scholarships from OSSTF. In February, we honoured our 2004-2005 Bishop Townshend Award of Educator Excellence recipients. Thank you to Chair Val Cavalini for her leadership in organizing that very special evening at the Grosvenor Club. In April, we honoured graduating students who had overcome some kind of obstacle or challenge with the 2005 E.C. McTavish Awards dinner at Sir George Ross Secondary School. Thank you to Chair Jeff Ste. Marie for organizing that event. (As an aside, I must also make mention of Nancy McDougall's contribution to this evening by producing the Powerpoint slide show of the award recipients; it is significant for two reasons--first, we finally made the jump from a mechanical to a computerized slide show, and second because our server crashed a week before the event when she was half way though it. With what was clearly a superhuman effort, Nancy got the slide show together with Laurie Lafraniere's assistance in time for that evening.) Finally, our 2005 Grade 10 Citizenship Awards Dinner will be held on June 1 at Thames Secondary School. Thank you to Chair Evelyn Daley for organizing that event; it too is shaping up to be a memorable evening.

I also wish to thank all of the other Committee Chairs and members and the executives of the District and of our four bargaining units. The business of the district, the committees and of the bargaining units would simply grind to a halt without your leadership and commitment, and so I wish to commend each committee chairperson and member, and every executive member for his/her dedication to OSSTF and to our solidarity as a district. Special thanks go to the three other Presidents--Barb O'Brien (Continuing Education Instructors), Marlies Sudermann (Professional Student Services Personnel), and Joe Wilson (Occasional Teachers)--for their support of their members, and the district as a whole.

One of the things that has characterized this district and has been the envy of some other districts is the level of cooperation and collegiality among our four bargaining units. When I hear of districts where the smaller bargaining units are marginalized or cannot get the level of service or respect that our members enjoy here, it makes me very glad and proud to be a District 11 member where all of our bargaining units get a voice at the table and where every member, regardless of bargaining unit, gets the same level of service, attention and respect that every other member receives. It is my fervent hope that this commitment to solidarity continues and that each one of us makes the commitment to live the OSSTF motto: "Let us not take thought for our separate interests, but let us help one another" for, as the old union saying goes, "United we stand, but divided we fall."

Teachers' Bargaining Unit President: Wendy Anes Hirschegger

Report to the Teachers' Bargaining Unit Annual General Meeting

My first year as the President of the Teachers' Bargaining Unit OSSTF District 11--Thames Valley has been an eventful one to say the least! There were days when I thought to myself, "What on earth have a gotten myself into?" however, overall, it has been a positive year, and I look forward to my second year as your TBU President.

We started the year without a contract, our previous one having expired on August 31, 2004. As I write this, we are still without a contract but continue to meet with the board to work towards a contract. We knew from the beginning that negotiations would be difficult, if not impossible, unless the government made the necessary funding and legislative changes that would allow us to come to fair compensation settlements and reasonable workload provisions. The strategy to educate the government in this regard had two thrusts--a political action component which involved and educating local MPPs about these issues, and of course local bargaining. The discussions among OSSTF, government and OPSBA staff finally resulted in a provincial policy framework within which local bargaining teams can now work to arrive at collective agreements.

As you know from the President's Memo which I distributed to branches last week, all of the tentative agreements which have been reached so far have class size caps, as well as improved workload and compensation provisions. As each new agreement is reached, I expect that these trends will continue and that bodes well for those who have yet to arrive at agreements. We are optimistic that we will be able to do likewise. We will be back to the bargaining table tomorrow and have four days in a row scheduled.

The TBU Executive, the Federation Services Officers and Committee Chairs continue to work very hard on behalf of the Members of District 11 and I thank them all for their commitment to OSSTF. In particular, I wish to thank the Branch Presidents, Collective Bargaining Committee reps and the In-School Staffing reps--as the front line contacts for our members concerning contractual and personnel issues, your assistance is invaluable and is greatly appreciated by the District Office staff.

In my District President's report, I reported on some of the other highlights of the year in terms of awards received by District 11 members or their students, and I wish to congratulate them once again also. Photos and/or articles about these are shared in our online magazine, Education Matters Online.

If you have not yet browsed through that publication, I encourage you to do so. The June issue will be published ot our website following the the Annual Retirement Dinner which will take place on June 15. I encourage you to submit articles and ideas for EdMatters Online in order to make it even more rich in terms of content and information. In addition, the website contains a wealth of information that will be of use and interest to you. I encourage you to bookmark the page to have it at your fingertips, or better yet, make it your homepage--that way you will always known when new information has been added to either our site or to the Provincial website.

I hope that the remainder of this school year will be enjoyable for you and that you have a relaxing and enjoyable summer.

Continuing Education Instructors' Bargaining Unit President: Barb O'Brien

Report to the Continuing Education Instructors' Annual General Meeting

Another year is beginning to wind down. It has been a year of surprises for some of us. Although sometimes these surprises aren’t particularly pleasant, I am obliged to say thank-you to all of the membership for their continued support. I have attempted to keep all of you informed and up-to-date on information, and am starting to feel that everyone has a better understanding of how we, as a Federation, work. We still have some areas of concern, but slowly I am learning better ways of dealing with issues!

1. MEMBERSHIP: Our membership is slowly, but steadily decreasing. We now have fewer than 120 people in our bargaining unit. There are also about 20 supply teachers, who are included in our membership. This drop concerns me. I know enrolment has been dropping, and I am worried we may suffer lay-offs in the future.
2. MUTUAL CONCERNS: The Mutual Concerns committee continues to meet once per term. We have resolved many issues this past year, not so much affecting the membership as a whole, but specific individuals or groups. We are looking for two people to sit on the Mutual Concerns committee for the next two years. It involves only 5 meetings per year, and is a great learning tool for how our contract works….or doesn’t work!
3. STAFFING COMMITTEE: The staffing committee continues to meet once per term also. The purpose of this meeting is to ensure staffing is done according to our collective agreement, and not arbitrarily or unfairly. This committee has worked very well. Again we are looking for two people to sit on this committee. It is nice to have one from ESL and one from LBS, as those are the two staffs involved at the committee meetings.
4. DISTRICT: Our District office has moved from its temporary “digs” back into the newly renovated Industrial Road site. Although the renovations took forever, I think everyone who is employed there thinks the wait was worth it. The offices are private, and the space for meetings has been well utilized. John Bernans, the Federation Services Officer responsible for our bargaining unit, has been of great help to me. Unfortunately, John has decided that his heart is really in the classroom, and will be leaving the district office at the end of June. I will miss John, as I know some of you will. We wish you well, John, and the students are being rewarded by having you return.
5. PROVINCIAL: This year, the position of Provincial Councillor reverts back to the PSSP bargaining unit. The combined membership of our two units allows us one voice at Provincial Council. So that both units have a chance to voice concerns, we rotate the duty every two years. I have gone the past two years, and learned a whole lot about the inner workings of OSSTF. This coming year, I will be attending the Sector Council of Presidents in Toronto. This will be a meeting of all support staff presidents, including a representative from each of the Instructor units in the Province. I am looking forward to this brand new group. It will be interesting to hear some of the concerns of the other groups.
6. GRIEVANCES: We have filed two grievances this year. We are waiting to hear if one of the grievances may go to arbitration. The other we have suspended the time line on, so that we can attempt to deal with it through negotiations.
7. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: I had SO hoped that by now we would have a new collective agreement. This was not to be. However, the one huge positive from this was our mini road show. It was certainly great to get out and visit the sights, and listen to your concerns. Linda and I both enjoyed this task, along with our helpers, Carol and Monica. We are all now able to put more faces to the names we hear! We were amazed at the huge support you gave us! We will continue to keep you informed of what’s happening. I must also give a giant-sized thank you to your table team. Carol, Monica, and Linda, has put in many hours and long days to attempt to get some issues resolved. I appreciate their willingness to contribute.

Once again, I have the opportunity to wish you a restful summer. For those of you working the summer at Wheable…..I’ll pray for you! For those of you taking the whole summer to holiday…..play safe! See you in September.

Professional Student Services Personnel Bargaining Unit: Marlies Sudermann

Report to the Professional Student Services Personnel Bargaining Unit Annual General Meeting

A number of important initiatives were undertaken by PSSP executive this year. We are currently in the process of working to influence and amend the Board’s Draft Procedure on Principal Input to PSSP members’ job evaluations. We are insisting on a number of important changes which include the requirement that a member have the opportunity to review the proposed input with the principal prior to its submission, and that the member’s signature be required on any written input. This would allow for better communication and much better accountability for our members, and fairer evaluations. Also, we are stressing that principals do not have the qualifications or expertise to evaluate PSSP members on their clinical work, as this role is reserved for members of the appropriate professional group under regulations of relevant professional Colleges. Therefore we are working hard to limit principal input to appropriate and defined areas, based on a revised written input form. We are also strongly suggesting that principals be made aware of a members’ job description and number of schools served by that PSSP member, prior to input being written. A successful resolution to this issue still seems possible although we have as yet not concluded our discussions with administration.

Another important area we have been working at as an executive, through various means, is the issue of appropriate practices around transfers to different job areas or assignments. This is a very salient issue in a Board as large as ours, and we will continue to work on this issue. We have been stressing the need for consideration of member requests and their seniority when assignments become available, while recognizing the needs of schools and students as well.

Provision of adequate professional development and member choice of professional development, in the spirit of recognizing professional self direction has been an issue raised recently with administration. I was encouraged that administration acknowledged that a committee at a staff level could appropriately have input into allocation of professional development funds and opportunities. We do have the provision of two days’ leave for professional development in our contract, but funds allocated by the Board have not always been adequate. This, I know, is a crucial area for many of our members in terms of assuring continued professional competence, professional growth, and continued top notch service to students. I would suggest that members in each job type to propose that a committee of staff be struck to advise the coordinator of that area as to overall issues and allocation of professional development funds.

This is a year in which we enjoyed a three per cent increase in our salaries, somewhat above the rate of inflation. This year, the Collective Bargaining Committee has begun its work to improve our contract in the coming fall round of negotiations. Our TVDSB PSSP contract is seen as a model for many others in the province, and I thank those who have served and continue to serve on the Collective Bargaining Committee for their assiduous work.

In closing, we will continue to work on a number of emerging issues, including a proposed cut of one staff member in the proposed 2005/2006 budget, and we look forward to another year of progress in 2005/2006.

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

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