Toronto Substitute Teachers Action Caucus

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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.

 

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