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Volume 4, Issue 2: December 12, 2005

District / Teachers' Bargaining Unit President: Wendy Anes Hirschegger

Time is flying quickly this fall; I can hardly believe that it is almost mid-December already. Before we know it, we'll be on the holiday break and then hurtling headlong into 2006.

I would like to thank all of you for all of the hard work that you do in your jobs. The strength of OSSTF is in its membership and so we thank you for your support and, if you haven't already become involved in some aspect of your bargaining unit or the district, we encourage you to think about doing so in the new year. We have many active committees and we would welcome increased participation from among the members.  Meetings are generally held "after school" at the District Office and include refreshments, and committee members may claim "out of the way" mileage when they attend the meetings.

I would like to take a moment to point out a couple of new features on the provincial website just in case they hadn't already been drawn to your attention. There is a new "hot button" on the front page called "News from the Provincial Executive" and clicking on it will bring you to the most recent report of discussion items at provincial executive meetings. Likewise, there is a hot button for "Queen's Park Highlights" which will take you to regular reports about what is happening in the provincial legislature.

The Federation Services Officers, our Administrative Assistant Laurie Lafraniere and I would all like to extend our best wishes to you for this holiday season. We hope that you will have a relaxing break.

Occasional Teachers' Bargaining Unit President: Joe Wilson

I suppose the best Christmas present our bargaining unit could receive would be contract settlement, given that we are still in negotiations (!). Perhaps the Christmas season is a good time to be negotiating, assuming the board negotiators lean more to Santa than to Scrooge!

We are pleased that our attempts to forge closer links to the Teachers' Bargaining Unit continue to move ahead. There is much interdependency between us, and, as the slogan goes, there is strength in solidarity. OSSTF is a strong home for all our bargaining units.

I guess the other positive development for all of us is relative peace with the government - we didn’t get the usual Mike Harris pre-Christmas teacher attack that his regime seemed to delight in so much! It would indeed be even better to see more funding coming into education, to return what was taken out, and to make it more likely we can better serve the needs of all students and all school communities. However, that can perhaps be our positive New Year’s resolution, to keep advocating for all that our students and publicly funded education need.

Best wishes for the holidays!

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

It has been an interesting fall for the Continuing Education Instructors of Thames Valley. After bargaining with the board for over a year, we took a strike vote. The membership gave us overwhelming support with their vote. They are the first instructors’ bargaining unit in the province to take a strike vote. We were determined to show the board that we were serious about our requests.

Since then, we have met with a conciliator, and there has been some movement on both sides of the table. We will meet with the conciliator again in the new year, and I am optimistic about a positive outcome.

Presently, the instructors of LBS and ESL are concerned about the numbers of students. We have had our numbers drop considerably. This is due in part to more stringent immigration laws, and to the very low rate of unemployment. However, this is also cyclical, and we expect it to turn around in the not-too-distant future.

Professional Student Services Personnel Bargaining Unit: Sandra Miller

As President of the PSSP--District 11, I would like to introduce you to our bargaining Unit. For those of you who are unclear as to what PSSP stands for (don’t worry, many people don’t) it is Professional Student Services Personnel. We have 10 job classes in our Bargaining Unit. They consist of Psychologists, Psychological Associates, Psychometrists, Speech and Language Services, Attendance Counsellors, School Support Counsellors, Counselling and Support Workers, First Nations Counsellors, Research and Assessment Associates and Environmental Educators. As you can see we are a varied group committed to providing the best services to students.

Many members in our bargaining unit are itinerant staff that have a number of schools to which they provide service. As well, we have members working at schools within the elementary panel making them the only OSSTF member within the school. Due to the fact that we are spread across the Board, communication provides a challenge for our group. I would encourage you to familiarize yourself with members in our group who may be working in your schools.

Currently, we are entering negotiations as we have not had a contract since August 31, 2005. Outsourcing and job security are issues we face. We may call on your support later in the year as negotiations progress.

I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season and I look forward to bringing you updates with regards to our Bargaining Unit as the year progresses. Thank you.

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

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