District Newsletter

Volume 1, Issue 3: December 18, 2002

Season’s Greetings

As we work the last few days prior to the two week holiday break, the District Office staff would like to extend the very best of the season to every OSSTF member in District 11.

We hope that you have the opportunity to relax with family and friends and to recharge for our return in January 2003.

Since there isn’t enough news or information to put out four different newsletters for the four Bargaining Units that OSSTF represents in District 11, we are including news and information for the various bargaining units in this District Newsletter.

Rozanski Report

The Rozanski Report confirmed what teachers’ unions, boards and parents’ groups have been saying all along: the funding formula is, in the words of Earl Manners, "both broke and broken".

Faced with this reality, the Harris-Eves tories have had no choice but to return funding to boards. So far $250M has been returned for Special Education, $340M for contract negotiations, and $20M for transportation, all for 2002 - 2003.

Teacher Presidents and Negotiators Meet!

See the print copy distributed to Members at workplaces for this information.

Occasional Teacher Negotiations

See the print copy distributed to Members at workplaces for this information.

PSSP Negotiations

See the print copy distributed to Members at workplaces for this information.

RRSP Direction Forms

LAST CALL to the TBU for RRSP Original Direction forms for deposits in Feb.2003.

Upon receipt of Original Direction form, a Deposit Request form will be faxed to you with your exact eligible amount.

Continuing Education Instructors' Bargaining Unit

CEI members need to be aware of the following date in their contract:

January 1:
Article 8:08 "Subject to the other legal obligations of the Board, qualified Continuing Education Instructors who have applied to teach (which presently requires registration with ATTN) in the elementary and/or secondary panels and have notified their supervisor in writing on or before January 01 of each year of their desire to be hired to a contract teaching position, will be given due consideration for such positions before outside hiring."

ATTN

Occasional Teachers, Continuing Education Teachers and Continuing Education Instructors who wish to apply for available teaching positions in the Thames Valley District School Board need to do so through the Apply to Teach Network (the "ATTN").

The TVDSB advertises all available contract teaching positions and any LTO positions they have been unable to fill internally on the ATTN. A $40 registration fee (good for 12 months) is required.

Bishop Townshend Award Nominations

Thank you to all of those Branch Presidents and/or Awards Chairpeople who submitted the name and profile of their nominee for the Bishop Townshend Award of Educator Excellence by the Dec. 13 due date.

If you have not yet submitted this information to the District Office, it is imperative that you do so right away. Please send it in before the break. It takes a lot of work and planning to put this dinner together and having the profiles of the nominees well ahead of time helps immensely.

Help Defeat the Tories

An election appears imminent, likely as early as this spring. You know how your workloads and stress levels have increased dramatically, and how public respect for the cherished institution of free and accessible public education in Ontario has been manipulated. And you know the Tories have been the decision makers behind these changes. Well, the coming election provides us with a rich opportunity to help achieve a change in government.

Both the NDP and Liberal parties have committed in writing to the restoration of a strong public education system, and they need our help, even if it is in small ways. There are many jobs which are key. People are needed to stuff envelopes, deliver flyers, make phone calls, canvass or to choose from a variety of other ways in which they can help. PLEASE CONSIDER OFFERING A COUPLE OF HOURS OF YOUR TIME! Contact the NDP Riding Association or Liberal Riding Association to volunteer some of your time.

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

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