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OSSTF District 11- Thames Valley
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District 11 Office |
District President's Memo
May 24, 2006
President's Message |
President's Message
The CUPE 4222C strike has now been in progress for two weeks and shows no sign of an imminent resolution. Bargaining held yesterday broke off again without a resolution.
I have been in constant contact with the provincial office on the issues that have been arising from the contingency plan and, despite the board’s assurances that our members would not be asked to do EA work, we have had to deal with several situations where Occasional Teachers have been asked to do Educational Assistant work. The Board, to its credit, has dealt with the issues to which we have alerted them. Still, we are considering launching a grievance because issues continue to crop up.
One area over which we have no control is the fact that the board is hiring outside individuals to do Education Assistant work. OSSTF policy is that "replacement workers" should not be used but we have no way of preventing the board from doing so.
I am appealing to EVERY SINGLE OSSTF MEMBER to be vigilant for the duration of this strike and NOT to do voluntarily ANY work that is normally and regularly performed by Education Assistants. CUPE 4222C is engaging in a legal strike and this MUST be respected so that the process under the Ontario Labour Relations Act can proceed.
In addition, you should not be facilitating ways to get around the absence of Educational Assistants. "Making it work" does not help the situation. Think about how you would feel if the situations were reversed–if one of our bargaining units were on strike, and members of another union tried to find ways around the sanctions in order to "make things work." To be very clear, we are not advising you to block or frustrate the board’s efforts to make things work because it is the board’s obligation to try to make things work. However, we are advising you to concentrate on doing your OWN job as best you can under the circumstances.
This is very definitely NOT "business as usual" and we should concentrate on doing our own jobs. Where this proves to be problematic or impossible because of the absence of the Education Assistants, or because of inadequate "alternate arrangements" made by the board or the parents for the EA work to be done, you must inform the school administration and the district office.
It is likely to become increasingly difficult to deal with the situations that arise at the school level, but as fellow union members we MUST support our CUPE colleagues. If you are unsure about a situation, please call us here at the office for advice. And remember, information about the strike protocol can be found on the District 11 website, as can regular updates on the situation.
In addition, if you have not already done so, I am also asking you to make a generous donation to the CUPE Strike Fund. Cash or a cheque made out to "OSSTF District 11" (write "CUPE 4222C Strike Fund" on the "memo" line) would be very much appreciated. Please remember that this bargaining unit is predominantly women, many of whom work a second part-time job in order to make ends meet, and they are ten month employees who are laid off for the summer. Please see your Branch President or Workplace Rep or Bargaining Unit President to make a donation as soon as possible so that the donations can be brought to the Annual General Meeting. I’d like to be able to drop off an initial cheque to the CUPE office by Friday.
Annual Offense Declaration
Regulation 521-01 requires all employees to complete an Annual Offence Declaration by September 01 each year.
Please take a moment to complete yours on-line through the Employee Portal. Under the heading "Personal Information" click on "Complete Your Offence Declaration". It's fast and secure.