|
OSSTF District 11- Thames Valley
|
District 11 Office |
Information Regarding the CUPE 4222 Unit C (Education Assistants) Strike
Resources
 | OSSTF protocol when other units are on strike |
| Teachers' work vs EAs' work |
| President's Memo (May 24) |
| President's Memo (May 15) |
Media Coverage
Sunday June 4, 2006
Friday June 2, 2006
The CUPE News Release concerning the tentative agreement between the board and the EAs:
|
CUPE reaches tentative agreement for education and instructional
assistants - vote Saturday
LONDON, Ontario, June 1 /CNW Telbec/ - A tentative agreement was reached
this afternoon between Thames Valley District School Board management and
representatives of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing
1,100 education and instructional assistants, on strike since May 11th.
"We will be recommending this deal to our members for ratification on
Saturday," said Jennifer Kaufmann, CUPE national representative. "If the deal
is accepted, EAs and IAs could return to work as soon as Monday."
Details of the tentative agreement will not be released until it has been
presented to CUPE 4222, Unit C members for ratification. The deal must also be
ratified by school board trustees.
|
Thursday June 1, 2006
Tentative agreement reached in EA strike
Tuesday May 30, 2006
From the OSSTF Provincial Policy and Procedure Manual: Policy 11.4.1 It is the policy of OSSTF that no Member of OSSTF should undertake, or cause to be undertaken, any function that, according to the current practice of the place of employment, is regularly undertaken by a member of the striking group.
All OSSTF members are reminded that they should not voluntarily do ANY work normally and regularly done by EAs. If you are directed to do so, ask for the direction in writing and contact the District Office IMMEDIATELY so that we can deal with this (see the document "OSSTF Protocol when other units are on strike" at left). EA work is outlined in the document "Teachers' work vs EAs' work" at left, and includes any work or supervision that was normally only done by EAs. In addition, it has come to our attention that some members may have been approached to do paid work other that of an OT (such as an hourly paid position as a lunch supervisor or Personal Support Worker for a special needs student). This too is completely inappropriate and unacceptable. Please do NOT accept nor arrange for any such work--in essence, this would make any individual accepting such work a "replacement worker" or "scab labourer" and, as indicated by the OSSTF policy above, OSSTF is opposed to such practice.
Occasional Teachers in particular are requested to be cautious, especially if hired to teach as part of the "contingency plan". All OTs hired as part of that plan MUST have been given their own class with their own class list, and preferably their own room. They are to do their own programming, teaching and assessment of the students assigned to them. There is a requirement under the contract to do APAs BUT this is not to include any supervision that was normally and regularly done by ONLY EAs. The maximum that any one OT under the contingency plan can be assigned is 3 lines (or classes).
If you have any concerns about work that you have been assigned, please call the District Office immediately for advice.
Friday May 26, 2006
The London & District Labour Council is helping to plan another rally in support of the EAs to be held on June 1. Details will be faxed to branches and bargaining units from our office. Please plan to attend to support this unit.
Thursday May 25, 2006
See the May 24 President's Memo (at left) sent to branches and OSSTF bargaining units for distribution to OSSTF members yesterday afternoon.
Some members have been asking how CUPE strike pay works. Here is the info from the CUPE national site: How much do I get paid? As you can see, strike pay does not kick in until day 10 of a strike, and so donations are very welcome and needed (see the May 24 President's Memo for further information).
Wednesday May 24, 2006
The London Free Press is reporting that the talks between CUPE C and the board have broken down. See article at left.
Tuesday May 23, 2006
Notice from the London & District Labour Council:
There will be a major meeting at the Board office on TODAY, Tuesday May 23, and we
want to demonstrate our support for and solidarity with the courageous
educational assistants. Note the following event and please attend it and
encourage your members to do so as well:
Support Rally for CUPE Local 4222
Tuesday May 23, 2006
4:00 p.m.
Thames Valley District School Board Office (1250 Dundas St., London)
Friday May 19, 2006
Click here for photos on the CUPE National site.
The London Free Press is reporting that the CUPE C and the board will be back to the bargaining table on Tuesday. See article at left.
Thursday May 18, 2006
See the CUPE media release at left "Ontario special education in crisis, say CUPE educational assistants". It speaks to the situation in our board.
I have sent an email to all of the OSSTF bargaining units across the province informing them of the situation here in TVDSB with the EAs. I've provided them with the link to this site, and with contact information for CUPE 4222 so that they can send messages of support. I have had word back from several of them already that not only have they sent messages of support but also that they have passed (or are bringing forward) motions at their executive meetings for financial donations.
Wednesday May 17, 2006
Last night, the board held an in camera board meeting that lasted 2 ˝ hours to discuss the CUPE C strike. Radio reports on the CBC this morning indicate that the board may be requesting a return to the bargaining table soon.
Branches and bargaining units are encouraged to "pass the hat" to collect donations for CUPE C. Please forward any funds collected to the district office so that the funds can be forwarded to the CUPE executive for distribution. I will also be canvassing the District and TBU executives to authorize donations from district funds.
All members are reminded not to do any EA work (see document at left for the descriptors). It does not help the EAs at all if members voluntarily pick up the slack and "help out". Occasional Teachers are requested to be particularly vigilant in this regard, especially if they have been hired to work with high needs students. The board explained very clearly in their discussions with us prior to the strike about the "contingency plan" that OTs were being hired to TEACH, not to "help out" the regular teacher. As such, OTs are to have been given a class list and responsibility for the planning of lessons and the teaching of those lessons to their specific group of students, preferably in their own classroom. The board specifically told us that this was NOT to be team-teaching, nor was there any expectation that the regular teacher would be doing the planning and providing that to the OTs. These are, in the words of Superintendent Bill Tucker, to be "clean splits of classes" thereby "creating new classes of students". Several times, the board indicated that no teacher or other OSSTF member would be asked to do "struck work".
News from the Montcalm Branch: The Montcalm staff is holding a barbecue for the EAs on the line at Montcalm today. Excellent idea!
Monday May 15, 2006
The CUPE 4222 office has sent us a copy of their picketing schedule for the next few days. If you wish to know if your site is a picket location and cannot find a picket captain, please email one of us in the office for the information.
News from the East Elgin Branch: "East Elgin staff have donated an urn of hot coffee, soup, and some loose change both Friday and today. We also circulated a one page update Friday pm with the strike schedule, and invited everyone to join the morning fitness walk in front of the school this morning. I am glad to say that a dozen OSSTF members showed up for varying amounts of time. We are also noting the strike schedule (when the pickets will be at E.E.) in red on a whiteboard in the mailroom. We also will donate all of the branch rebate. Finally, I am going to call a branch meeting and pass the hat." Great ideas! Other branches with news and ideas are asked to forward those to Wendy Hirschegger.
The London & District Labour Council will be organizing a rally in support of CUPE C very soon. OSSTF will be there to speak and support this unit. Watch for information so that you can also come out to support the Education Assistants.
Friday May 12, 2006
Branch Presidents and Workplace Reps were sent the following communication this morning:
Please do the following:
-speak to the CUPE picket captain at your site and find out when your site
is being picketed
-try to arrange a schedule for members to join the pickets so that there are
OSSTF members out walking with them before and after school and at lunch
whenever there are CUPE pickets at your site
-consider dropping off treats regularly (you can use your branch rebate to
py for them)
-please ensure that if there is an OT at your site who has been hired to
teach DC or high needs students, you give him/her/them a copy of the strike
protocol and the document which outlines teacher vs EA work. (links to both
are on the website at the link above)
-if you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to the district
office
Thursday May 11, 2006
The Education Assistants' bargaining unit, CUPE 4222 Unit C, is on strike as of today.
The board's "contingency plan" to split some of the larger high needs classes into smaller ones and hire Occasional Teachers for the extra classes has been put into effect. I consulted with our provincial office about this plan. The feedback I received from Ken Coran and Dale Leckie, is that because the board is doing it this way and because they will be telling the teachers and occasional teachers that they are only to be teacher work and will not be required to do EA work, technically this is not a "replacement worker" situation. As such, we cannot therefore tell our teachers not to do teacher work, nor can we advise our OTs not to take the jobs because then we would be 'counselling sanction' which is against the law if not in a legal strike position. The board has provided us with a clear delineation, in writing, of what the Teachers' and EAs' work is so that they are clear on what they must do (teacher work) and what they are NOT being expected to do (EA work).
If a high needs student who normally needs toileting or some other intensive need type situation shows up without provision for their care, inform the Principal immediately. Principals have been given direction as to what to do if they cannot maintain a student in the school. The board is working with principals on an individual basis in those situations to offer support and they have also communicated to the three CAS agencies that principals may be calling them in situations like this.
We are requesting that all OSSTF members support our Education Assistant colleagues by following the OSSTF protocol when other units are on strike. It is important to know that the law requires OSSTF members to cross the picket line unless threatened with violence; if this occurs, return home, contact your supervisor and explain the circumstances. Also pay particular attention to the section on what to do if an administrator asks an OSSTF member to do work that is normally and regularly performed by an EA.
Please direct any questions or concerns that you might have to the District Office (659-6588).
District 11 OSSTF Home Page | District Information | Bargaining Units | District Committees | District Magazine | Site Map | OSSTF Provincial Office
Let us not take thought for our separate
interests, but let us help one another.
(OSSTF Motto)
Revised Thursday, June 29, 2006
Send any questions or comments or reports of broken links to the Webmaster.