President's Memo

December 6, 2004

At long last, our district office renovations are virtually complete. We moved back into 680 Industrial Road on Tuesday November 30. Here are our new phone extension numbers at 659-6588:
101-Laurie Lafraniere
102-Dave Russell
103-Wendy Hirschegger
104-John Bernans
105-Nancy McDougall
106-Mary Lou Cunningham

The Bargaining Unit Presidents’ extensions are:
103-Wendy Hirschegger
801-Barb O’Brien
802-Marlies Sudermann
803-Joe Wilson

College of Teachers 2005 Fee Payment

The 2005 Membership Fee of $104 will be deducted automatically from the January 21, 2005 pay cheque of TBU secondary teachers.

Any TBU member who is on leave (for example on pregnancy, parental or unpaid leave) and is therefore not receiving a salary, and all Occasional Teachers and Continuing Education Teachers as well as any PSSP or Continuing Education Instructors who are members of the College of Teachers must pay the fee on their own directly to the College of Teachers. The easiest way to do so is online: go to www.oct.ca and click on “Membership Fee payment Online”.

Members for whom the OCT has not received the fee by the end of January will be invoiced by the OCT directly after February 15 and the fee must be paid by April 15 at the very latest. Members who have not paid their fees by then will be "suspended for non-payment of fees" and it will cost the $104 plus an $80 reinstatement fee (and possibly the resubmission of documentation) to return to "good standing".

In addition, the school board is informed and because one must be in good standing in order to be employed, teachers suspended by the OCT also run the risk of being suspended by the board (in other words, will not be allowed to work nor be paid for that time period) until they are once again “in good standing” with the OCT. CEI members whose OCT membership is suspended will be able to work but may be paid the non-OCT rate until they are once again in good standing.

District Website

As always, there is a lot of information about which members should be aware posted on the District Website. It is updated daily with current links to news articles about education and relevant matters in provincial politics. In addition, there are links to any new information that can be accessed on the provincial OSSTF website.

If you haven’t done so recently (or ever), please take some time to browse through the district website to familiarize yourself with the information available there. You may wish to bookmark it or make it your “home page” so that you will always be alerted to new things on the district or provincial websites.

Attention TBU and OT Members: Using TVARRIS

If you are going to be absent and you have already arranged for a particular Occasional Teacher to cover your classes, please make sure that when you enter your absence into TVARRIS that you indicate that the Substitute HAS been notified. This is very important so that the job number gets assigned to the correct Occasional Teacher.

If you indicate that the Substitute has not been notified, the system may end up assigning a different Occasional Teacher than the one you contacted. This is an important issue to our Occasional Teachers as they may show up for jobs that have been assigned by TVARRIS to other Occasional Teachers. They might also turn down other jobs, believing that they are already assigned.

Only the Occasional Teacher with the job number will get paid and so it is critical that the correct information be entered into TVARRIS.

Avoiding Workplace Stress and Conflict

Dave Russell and I met with our OTIP representative recently to get updated on the status of the District 11 Long Term Disability cases. We learned some interesting things about trends over the last decade. Apparently, the number of LTD cases relating to mental and nervous disorders, including workplace stress, in Ontario had been steadily rising for most of the last decade. However last year, for the first time, there was an overall decline in the number of stress-related cases. It is interesting to note that this statistic also coincides with the defeat of the tory government and their relentless war on teachers and education workers.

That said, we are heading into the last three weeks before the Christmas holidays when, typically, stress levels sometimes are elevated, and we have received some calls recently about members in conflict with each other and so I wanted to share some information with the membership in an effort to prevent or help solve conflicts in the workplace.

The OSSTF Constitution and Bylaws and Policies require professional conduct and respect among members.

The OSSTF Constitution, Bylaws and Policies are available online at www.osstf.on.ca/www/handbook/2004/Handbook/index.html and it would be well worth every member’s while to read through the “Ethics” section in Bylaw 4 (pages 13-14) and the “Rights, Privileges and Duties of OSSTF Members” section in Bylaw 5 (pages 14-16).

ETH 3.3 says, “The member's professional conduct should be characterized by courtesy and good faith, and should imply the obligation to refrain from public criticism of the member's colleagues.”

Whether it be the relationship between members of the same bargaining unit, or between members of different employee groups, or between the member and administration, students or parents, it is always the best policy to treat each other with courtesy and respect. It is never all right to speak disparagingly of our fellow members or of other board employees. If these very simple principles are followed, we should be able to avoid conflicts.

Furthermore, the Teaching Profession Act Section 18 (1) (b) and OSSTF Bylaws 5.2.1.2 and 5.2.2 require a member who has made an “adverse report” about another member to give a copy of that adverse report, in writing, to that member within 72 hours. This, of course, can be unpleasant and so it is much preferable to try to prevent situations from getting to that point.

The more daily “people contacts” one has, the higher the inherent stress level is. Because of this, we must be that much more aware of the potential for stress and seek ways to deal effectively with it. Rather than criticize members with different ways of doing things, or those with whom we disagree, it is much more constructive to actively seek ways of getting along and problem-solving with them.

The OSSTF motto, “Let us not take thought for our separate interests, but let us help one another,” and the OSSTF pledge sum it up best:
I solemnly dedicate myself to promote and advance the cause of education.
I will strive to achieve and maintain the highest degree of professional competence and will always uphold the honour, dignity, and ethical standards of my profession.
I pledge my loyalty and support to the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation and will comply with the Constitution, Bylaws, Policies, and established practices which govern its
members.

As members of OSSTF, we are responsible for fulfilling our professional obligations to the best of our ability and for working together for our students and for public education. We must support and help each other as colleagues.

This mentoring role is especially important for members with Positions of Added Responsibility. While members with Positions of Added Responsibility may assist members of their department with work performance and who may be having difficulty, it is important to note that this is a supportive, mentorship role only; not an evaluative one. Further information about this role can be found in the OSSTF Policy and Procedure Manual in Policy 2.3.3 (pages 1-2).

If you have any questions about any of the information presented here or about how to handle a conflict, please contact us.

Global Education Workshop Leaders Needed

OSSTF is seeking five workshop leaders for an exciting global education initiative. Meeting Teachers’ Global Education Resource Needs is a joint project of ETFO, OECTA, OSSTF, and the Ontario Council for International Cooperation (OCIC) with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). As a result of this initiative, teachers across Ontario will have professional development opportunities to support them in integrating global education into their classrooms. Successful applicants will work together with the federations and OCIC to develop and present global education workshops linked to the curriculum that vary in length from one and a half (1.5) hours to multi-day sessions.

Further information and application details are available on the provincial website. Click on the graphic of the globe with the caption “Call for Workshop Leaders”. The application deadline is January 14, 2005.

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

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