Toronto Substitute Teachers' Grassroots Newsletter
(in OSSTF Distrct 12)
Join the
Substitute Teachers'Action Caucus. Call the Legal Defense Fund Hot Line
at 416-588-9090
February 2004 -
Uncensored. Produced by elected Bargaining Unit
activists.
Restore our Constitution
Save
the OTBU
The cat's
finally out of the bag. The OSSTF bureaucracy's drive to dissolve the
Toronto Occasional Teachers'Bargaining Unit (OTBU) into the larger
contract teachers'bargaining unit is finally out in the open. This much
is revealed in the February 2004 edition of Trustee Tom
Byers'newsletter (in a page 6 article by J. Mills, his appointee to
Provincial Council). For our response, see page 6 of this newsletter.
Now
it should be clear, even to the most skeptical observers, that the
harsh measures taken by OSSTF officials against Toronto substitute
teachers over the past two years served a strategic purpose: to
purge local resistance to
the liquidation of the OTBU, leading to total subordination of substitute
teachers'interests inside OSSTF.
One
more thing is clear. It won't work. Every undemocratic act of
aggression against substitutes raises awareness. From the seizure of
our funds, to the arbitrary removal of our elected officers (President,
Executive, Bargaining Team, Health and Safety reps), to the bad
contract and bogus mail-in vote last November, to the drowning of our
democratic constitution in January, a clear picture emerges. OSSTF aims
to weaken the OTBU, to turn it into a retirees'club, and then dissolve
it. But awareness breeds resistance. And the resistance is organized in
the grassroots Action Caucus.
P.D. Activity Day A Tiny
Perfect Farce
If
further proof of OSSTF leaders'contempt for substitute teachers is
needed, look to the Professional Development Day assembly at Monarch
Park C.I. on Feb. 13. Fewer than 35 members attended this annual event
which for the past 13 years attracted 100 to 200 members to a rich
programme of workshops organized by the local union. Not surprisingly,
the give away of PAY for P.D. in the latest contract reduced the
gathering to a tiny perfect farce, dominated by TDSB managers and the
small clutch of Federation officials and hangers-on who perpetrated the
sell-out of our rights.
What's
next? OSSTF leaders hope to consolidate their control by capturing the
OTBU Executive. But the Action Caucus, led by the
elected OTBU Executive, has different plans. We aim to restore the
democratic local constitution. We aim to reinstate the principle of
direct election at inter-active membership meetings. We aim to win the
Executive elections, as we did in June 2002.
Please support our constitution amendments, as
shown on page 3.
Call 416 -
588-9090 to join the campaign for OTBU democracy and autonomy.
What Happened to Pay for P.D. Day?
For
the past thirteen years, secondary school substitute teachers at school
boards in Toronto enjoyed one PAID professional development activity
day each year, if they taught at least 80 days in the previous school
year.
But
in October 2003, in the latest collective agreement, OSSTF negotiators
gave away paid P.D. for substitute teachers at the TDSB.
They made no serious
effort to negotiate a continuation of the paid P.D. entitlement, which
was won in the substitute teachers'strike of 1990 at the former City of
Toronto Board of Education.
OSSTF
provincial officials removed our elected local president in January
2003 and seized control of our Occasional Teachers'Bargaining Unit
(OTBU) in April 2003. They put our unit in trusteeship'. Then in June
2003 OSSTF dissolved our elected bargaining team, and appointed highly
paid provincial bureaucrats to take their place. In October these
provincial bureaucrats signed a tentative agreement with the TDSB that
eliminated our job security list cap', eroded our health benefits,
settled for a wage increase which is nearly 6% less than the increase
for contract teachers and they abandoned our long standing paid P.D. To
enforce this bad deal, OSSTF officials conducted a bogus mail-in vote.
Hundreds of members received no ballot; scores of submitted ballots
were not counted; and envelopes were opened by OSSTF staff before our
scrutineers arrived for the official count. Still the bad deal was
declared ratified'.
What is behind the OSSTF
purge of OTBU elected leaders? What is behind the general attack on our
local organization? OSSTF officials want to dissolve the OTBU into the
contract teachers'bargaining unit. 60 Mobile Drive would still get our
dues money, but we would have virtually no voice, and little say over
our pay, benefits and working conditions.
The
latest contract is just a taste of what is to come: a further
deterioration of substitute teachers'rights and our ability to make a
living.
What
can we do? Fight back.
Support the Substitute Teachers'Legal
Defense Fund.
Give
us your e-mail address and telephone number so that you will be kept
informed by your grassroots elected leaders and co-workers.
Join
the campaign to restore democracy and local autonomy for substitute
teachers in Toronto. Please send a cheque today to the Legal Defense
Fund, 526 Roxton Road, Toronto, Ontario M6g 3R4. For more information,
call 416 - 588-9090.
News From the Legal Battle Lines
OSSTF
lawyer Josh Phillips and unlawfully removed OTBU President Barry
Weisleder appeared at a Settlement Conference before Superior Court
Justice Douglas Coo on February 17. Weisleder offered to withdraw the
civil action he launched in 2003 for a mere $1. OSSTF rejected this,
insisting on receiving payment of $50,000 and a signed pledge that
Weisleder would refrain from participating in union affairs. Justice
Coo appeared taken aback by the severity of the OSSTF position. Coo
said he would have to send the dispute to trial, but he hastened to add
... there is no court available for such a trial until at least May
2006!
In
other developments, a renewed challenge to the Trusteeship and the bad
contract was filed at the Ontario Labour Relations Board by four OTBU
members on February 19.
A
Pre-Trial hearing at Ontario Small Claims Court is scheduled for April
5 where OSSTF faces a $10,000 lawsuit for authorized printing and
office expenses of the OTBU.
Proposed Amendments to the Toronto OTBU
Constitution
Submitted February 11, 2004
1.
Be It Resolved That the District 12 Secondary Occasional
Teachers'Constitution be amended by deletion of current Articles 1 to
11 and substitution of proposed * Articles 1 to
10.
(Moved by Barry
Weisleder, Seconded by Janine Carter)
2. Be It Resolved That the
District 12 Secondary Occasional Teachers'Constitution be amended by
deletion of current Bylaws 1 to 8 and substitution of proposed * Bylaws
1 to 10 and 12 to 15. (Moved by Barry Weisleder, Seconded by Janine
Carter)
*
Find the proposed Articles and Bylaws in the previous Toronto OTBU
Constitution, which was in force May 1998 through January 2004.
Rationale for Amendments to Toronto
OTBU Constitution to restore Democracy and Local Autonomy
1.
The President and the entire Executive should be elected at a
democratic, inter-active Membership meeting, not via a dubious mail-in
ballot procedure. We saw many
problems with mail-in balloting during the so-called contract
ratification vote in November 2003. Hundreds of active members did not
get ballots. There was no certainty that the person who opened the
mail, voted, and mailed in the ballot was actually the member to whom
the ballot was sent. The secrecy of the ballots was violated. Envelopes
containing ballots were opened before scrutineers arrived for the
official count. An election that is not seen to be fair and
clean has little credibility.
2.
The size of the
Executive should be restored to fourteen (14) positions. The reduction
to nine (9) decreases
membership involvement and slows the development of new leadership. It
leaves several of the eight TDSB dispatch zones without a designated
executive member-at-large, thus reducing service and support to members.
3.
An unsuccessful candidate for office (e.g. one who losses with up to
49.9% of the votes) should be able to run for other executive offices
on separate ballots. But under the current mail-in ballot procedure, a
candidate defeated for a senior executive position would be able to run
only for one other office, and to do so, would have
to run for both
offices on the same ballot!
This will cause wasted votes, accidental acclamations, and massive
confusion in the voting process. It could keep candidates with
substantial membership support off the executive, thus depriving the
union of the talent, energy and ideas they offer.
Alternatively,
direct voting at a membership meeting not only allows us to verify who
the voters are; it promotes leadership accountability, and direct
participation by members. Voting at a meeting is far less costly than
by a mail-in ballot procedure; it is cleaner, immediate, far more
efficient, and far more democratic.
4.
The Bargaining Team should be elected by the members at a general
membership meeting where debate on bargaining issues can occur.
The
new constitution provides that our negotiators are appointed by an
advisory group of volunteers known as the collective bargaining
committee. Even worse is the fact that members no longer get to vote on
the contract demands. The executive determines the demands package.
General membership control of bargaining must be restored. That's what
it will take to win back the rights and benefits we've recently lost.
5.
Representatives to TDSB
Consultation Committee, Health and Safety Committees, Labour Council
and other bodies should be
elected by the membership, not appointed by the
executive. The selection of our Health and
Safety reps. should never be subject to the approval of the District 12
H&S committee, but should be exclusively the choice of the OTBU
members.
6.
Member grievances should not be subject to the approval or veto of a
Grievance Officer (the First V.P.), or
of a Grievance Appeals Committee consisting mostly
of the Executive. Provincial OSSTF already has the power to veto or
abandon grievances, which it has often done. The Executive should be
dedicated to supporting members, and not be slaves to the dubious
priorities of the provincial office.
7.
All important votes, elections and decisions should occur at General
Meetings. The new constitution
strips the General Meeting of most of its rights and duties. This can
result only in a decline in attendance, and a withering of the local
organization.
The new constitution of
Trustee Byers is far less democratic
than its predecessor. The new constitution was repeatedly promoted in
the Trustee's newsletter, which published no contrary opinions on the
subject. It was adopted at a meeting held under the intimidating
circumstances of provincial OSSTF Trusteeship, at a strange location,
far from any secondary school in the TDSB, at a room rental cost of
over $1200. Why?
The
original OTBU constitution served members well for over five years.
Restore the democratic OTBU Constitution. End the Trusteeship. Restore
local democracy now!
Representation without Consultation, Mr.
Byers?
by
Janine Carter
In
September I was removed, by Trustee Tom Byers, from the South West and
South East Area Health and Safety Committees of the TDSB. This was done
without any consultation with our elected Executive or even any prior
notification. I have not been reinstated onto either committee, despite
the fact that I have done the training and I am now a certified Health
and Safety inspector.
We
just learned that Jennifer Mills would be the Toronto OTBU rep on OSSTF
Provincial Council, a function that I have been performing since I was
first designated by our Acting President Maureen Malmud in June 2003 as
her replacement. I am wondering why this latest change by Mr. Byers
could not have waited until the Trusteeship is lifted in April and we
have a new elected OTBU Executive to make the decisions.
A
Chronology of Attacks on the OTBU
Over
1400 secondary school substitute teachers, employees of the Toronto
District School Board (TDSB), continue to endure the undemocratic
Trusteeship imposed by provincial officials of the Ontario Secondary
School Teachers'Federation (OSSTF).
Since
the bureaucratic takeover of the Occasional Teachers'Bargaining Unit
(OTBU) was instituted by provincial OSSTF on April 23, 2003, the
following developments occurred:
1.
The bureaucratically appointed manager, OSSTF Trustee Tom
Byers, swept aside the elected local OTBU executive and seized control
of local funds. The elected OTBU
President Barry Weisleder had been removed on spurious and vexatious
grounds by provincial OSSTF in January 2003.
Trusteeship extended the purge across the local unit.
2.
The elected local Bargaining Team was dissolved
in June 2003. It was replaced by a group of provincial bureaucrats,
plus one hand-picked collaborator from the OTBU.
3.
The provincial negotiators signed a tentative collective agreement with
the TDSB a deal that gave away substitute teachers'job
security language and paid professional
development, eroded health benefits, and accepted a wage
settlement at a rate more than 6% below the wage
increase achieved for contract teachers at the TDSB.
4. The
tentative agreement was never presented
for discussion and vote by OTBU members at a properly convened
Ratification Meeting, as required by the constitution, but was
ãratifiedä via a bogus mail-in ballot procedure which disenfranchised
hundreds of members. The envelopes were opened before local scrutineers
arrived to observe the official ballot count.
5.
The Trustee removed rank and file reps.
to Health and Safety Committees, Consultation Committee, and other
bodies for political reasons (e.g. Tom Byer's disagreement with
newsletter articles critical of the trusteeship).
6. The
Trustee, using bargaining unit funds, published and mailed to
members propaganda which vilified
elected local officers, promoted the sell-out contract, and rallied an
affluent layer of conservative-minded, retired teachers (with big
pensions) to effect a replacement of the democratic OTBU constitution
with a bureaucratic substitute.
What's
Next?
For
years, the goal of OSSTF officials has been to smash the militant,
democratic Toronto OTBU leadership and to dissolve the OTBU into the
larger permanent contract teachers'unit. They want our dues and our
silent submission as second-class OSSTF members. In 1997, when the
Ontario Tory government amended the Education Act, substitute teachers
became statutory members of the teachers'federations. We had no choice
then. And now we cannot vote to leave OSSTF and join another union
without a change of the law.
Our
struggle to restore democracy and local autonomy in OSSTF continues. It
is a very costly struggle to wage at Ontario Superior Court, at the
Ontario Labour Relations Board, in Small Claims Court, and elsewhere.
Do you believe in union
democracy?
Do you
believe that an injury to one is an injury to all'?
Help
us now to win justice for substitute teachers. The struggle for justice
is always a good investment for working people everywhere.
Please send a cheque today
to the Legal Defense Fund, 526 Roxton Road, Toronto, Ontario M6G 3R3.
For more information, call 416-588-9090.
A Reponse to Jennifer Mills:
Another Member's Thoughts
In
the February 2004 edition of OSSTF Trustee Byer's newsletter there is
an article by Jennifer Mills titled "One member's thoughts about the
OTBU after the Jan. 20th meeting".
Here
are the thoughts of another member. Plus some facts.
During
the contract ratification vote, which was conducted by a mail-in ballot
procedure last November, hundreds of OTBU members did not receive a
ballot. Seventy-nine of the ballots that were mailed to OSSTF were set
aside'and never counted. When the scrutineers arrived to do the
official vote count they discovered that the outer envelopes had
already been opened. In fact, we don't really know who'voted at any
given address where more than one person resides.
In
virtually all other OSSTF bargaining units, votes take place at a
central union meeting, or in the schools. In either case, voters can
debate the issues in person, face to face. And they must show personal
identification before voting.
All
the problems of the mail-in ballot procedure are now to be visited upon
OTBU elections. In addition, candidates'contact with voters will be
reduced, and a candidate's right to drop down to run for another
office, if not elected at first, is limited. How is this an
ãimprovementä or more democratic than a direct election procedure done
at a meeting?
Jennifer claims that Many
(previous general) meetings had fewer than 50 members present.
In
fact, prior to Trusteeship, OTBU General Meetings always had between
seventy and one hundred and fifty members present. The June 5, 2002 AGM
had over two hundred and thirty members present. It was held at the
District 12 building on Bathurst Street, just north of the St. Clair
West subway station. There was no charge for use of the space. The
January 20, 2004 meeting was held far from any TDSB secondary school,
in a Metro Convention Centre room that cost over $1,200 to rent,
located two levels below ground, at a site many members found to be
strange and inaccessible. Parking cost $20.
Jennifer claims "Every
member is now empowered"
But
how does a more complicated voting procedure, a now smaller executive
(reduced from 14 to 9 positions), and provisions that make other
offices in the OTBU appointed by the executive rather than elected by
the members, lead to more membership empowerment'? How does giving the
executive the power to decide our contract demands, rather than put
them to a discussion and vote of members at a Demand-Setting meeting,
empower'members?
Jennifer opines that "We
need more socials".
Before
Trusteeship, the OTBU held two or three socials each year, including a
summer picnic. Since Trusteeship there have been zero socials, unless
you count the snacks and cash bar following the Jan. 20 meeting.
(By
the way, despite having no funds for a mailing or food catering, the
elected Executive held a festive, pot luck pre-Holiday Social on
December 5, 2003.)
Finally, Jennifer points out
that "It appears to be the direction of OSSTF Provincial Office that
occasional teachers attempt to integrate with the STBU (Secondary
Teachers Bargaining Unit)".
Indeed,
is this not what the Trusteeship, the removal of OTBU elected officers,
and the new constitution aim to facilitate? If you want to know what
integration'would be like, just look at the latest contract no job
protection cap, loss of paid P.D., eroded health benefits, and a wage
settlement that trails contract teacher deals by 6%.
I am
attaching my e-mail address and phone number below. I would like to
hear from substitute teachers who want to work together to restore our
rights in OSSTF and at the TDSB.
In
solidarity, Barry Weisleder 416 - 588-9090
Manners'Legacy
Looms Large
In the
December 2003 edition of D12 Voice, Ahmed Abdolell's article "Manners
betrayal wake up call" hit the nail on the head, properly excoriating
the former OSSTF president for "demonization of Toronto, lack of
commitment to openness and democracy" and "dictat(ing) the policies and
direction of OSSTF".
But
this literary indictment is incomplete without chronicling Earl
Manners' tell tale mistreatment of substitute teachers. Recall that
Manners led the concessionary negotiations in 1998 that resulted in
increased internal on-call coverage -- which overburdened contract
teachers, and devastated substitute teachers' jobs and incomes. He
blocked the drive for sector status in OSSTF for substitutes, and he
cultivated the appointed Occasional Teacher Committee as his personal
echo chamber. Manners facilitated a political purge of the elected
leadership of the Toronto OTBU, and in the process he engineered
regressive contracts which undermined our job security protection,
wages and benefits.
Manners
piloted through AMPA 2003 anti-democratic amendments to OSSTF Bylaws to
make it easier for Provincial Executive to impose Trusteeship on a
Bargaining Unit or District, and at the same time removed the right of
the members affected to veto it. And finally, he used those new
Draconian powers to seize control of the Toronto OTBU, to diminish our
members' rights, and to push us hard in the direction of liquidation
into the larger STBU.
The
struggle to restore democracy and local autonomy continues. But
Manners' legacy in OSSTF, like the man himself, looms large.
Note: Earl Manners, the four-term past president of
OSSTF, joined the Management side at the Trillium Lakelands School
Board as a negotiator. Trillium Lakelands, District 15, is in cottage
country north east of Toronto, and includes Lindsey, Ontario.
Toronto Substitute Teachers'Executive 2002-2004
Still eager to serve and to
work with you despite OSSTF Trusteeship!
President - Maureen Malmud
416 - 961-4611 (replaced Barry Weisleder)
Vice President - Chris Sojka
416 - 232-9155
Secretary - Azmina Mohamed
416 - 789-7007
Executive Officers - at -
Large (with Dispatch Zone area indicated)
Qaisar Alam (zone 2)
416-424-4026 Maria Wachowiak (zone 3) 416-362-7691 Janine Carter (zone
7) 416-588-5869 Ted Culp (zone 8) 416-653-7147 Teodor Czyzo (zone 1)
416-249-4965 Carol Sivanich (zone 5) 416-461-9588 Nick Wedgwood (zone
6) 416-922-4051
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Negotiating
Team: *Chris Sojka, *Maureen Malmud, *Barry Weisleder & *Nick
Wedgwood
Provincial
Councillor: *Maureen Malmud Chief Steward/Grievance Officer: *Chris
Sojka
Union-TDSB
Consultation Committee reps.: Chris Sojka, *Maureen Malmud, and Abdul
Omar.
OTBU Reps. on
D12 Exec.: *Maureen Malmud, *Chris Sojka and *Janine
Carter.
Health and
Safety Reps.: *Qaisar Alam and *Janine Carter.
Reps. to
Toronto Labour Council: Qaisar Alam, Janine Carter and Navot Sass.
* Removed by Trustee
Tom Byers for political reasons.
The
Best-Laid Plans.
Nick Rice
Have you ever walked
into a junior-high, found yourself in a room with 25 or 30 squirmy
pre-teens, and then read a lesson-plan that asks you to take ten
minutes to discuss'a certain issue with the kids? I don't know about
you, but I find this kind of plan next to impossible to carry out. I've
learned from hard experience that it's often not even worth an attempt,
and in my end-of-day note I don't hesitate to tell the teacher that I
find his or her plans unreasonable.
Almost as difficult is
a plan which asks that you teach a lesson you're unfamiliar with, or
take up'the previous day's work. If I think I can manage it, I try.
Otherwise, forget it.
Good plans are those
that list the pages to be read, the questions to be done, and the
homework to be assigned. I don't say this kind of lesson is vividly
stimulating or creative it's not but it is something
that even an unfamiliar teacher can deal with. Better yet are
the plans which say that the students are already in the midst of their
assignments: just let them carry on walk around and give assistance
where needed.
And sometimes,
unexpectedly, the best plans are no plans at all. It happens that a
teacher forgets to leave them, or they're buried beneath a pile of
papers and impossible to find. That's when I tell the students that
I've been left high and dry, but (and this is important) I can't give
them a free'period. Rather, it's an all-purpose work-period, a good
chance to get caught up on reading or work in any subject. I'm there,
very there, if they need me; otherwise, I say, keep the noise-level
down and use the time well.
Every now and then,
the less we supply teachers do or the less we seem
to do the better.
How Do You Spell Respect? (from News
and Views/IAM 2330/CALM)
A high school teacher
injured his back and had to wear a plaster cast around the upper part
of his body. The cast fit under his shirt and wasn't noticeable.
On his first day back
to work, he found himself assigned to the class with the toughest
students in the school.
When the students
started to misbehave, he asked them to stop, but they ignored him.
Suddenly, a strong
breeze from an open window started to make his tie flap. He kept
pushing it down, but it kept flying up.
Finally, out of
frustration, he stood up, took a big stapler off the desk, and stapled
the tie to his chest.
Since then, he hasn't
had any problems with rowdy students.