call the Toronto Substitute Teachers’ Action Caucus Help Line at 416 - 588-9090.

Members protesting mistreatment in Toronto secondary schools faced stern Executive stonewalling tactics at the May 26, 2011 Annual General Membership Meeting.

Rank and file voices at the microphones called attention to a growing crisis. They reported escalating student rudeness, widespread use of i-Pods and cell phones during classes, chronic lateness, nasty threats, physical violence, theft of personal property, and the lack of support by school administrators and OTBU officials in the face of such daily abuses.

The Occasional Teachers' Bargaining Unit meeting, with only 120 of 1900+ members present at the Don Mills site, saw Chief Negotiator Vince Zambrano and President Linda Bartram blame ordinary members for submitting “less than a dozen” complaints about student misbehaviour. The OTBU Executive chose to ignore the clear direction of the November 24, 2010 General Meeting. That GM approved a Substitute Teachers' Action Caucus-sponsored resolution mandating the Executive to investigate the student behaviour crisis by soliciting membership in-put, and then make a deputation, with recommendations, to TDSB officials. The adopted motion did not stipulate a minimum number of complaints required to prompt action. But it did ask union officials to solicit members' in-put on this subject. Instead, the Executive posted on its web site an “Anti-Bullying and Anti-Harassment Reporting Form” which does not clearly and directly address the issues of concern to members. Naturally, most members ignored it.

The May 26 AGM accomplished less than usual. Following a late start, then the approval of the agenda and past meeting minutes, we were 'treated' to the screening of a self-congratulatory video produced by the Executive. After reports from, and questions put to the President, to the Treasurer, to a provincial OSSTF officer and to the local Chief Negotiator (even though negotiations do not begin until Summer 2012), there was hardly any time left to consider resolutions submitted by ordinary members.

Questions to the President and Treasurer about the lack of paid P.D., about insufficient daily teaching assignments, about inflated union expenditures, and concerning the amount of union money given directly to Executive members, were 'answered' evasively, or worse. Once again, OTBU 'leaders' blamed members for what management claims is “a large number of unfilled jobs.” When pressed, officials admitted that many of these jobs are half-day assignments. If a substitute teacher accepts a half-day job the night before, or early on the teaching day, s/he is deprived of an opportunity to accept a full-day job (and pay).

Sadly, no debate occurred on Action Caucus motions to seek a 1200 name cap on the dispatch list, to increase the frequency of OTBU meetings, and to make the location more rapid transit-accessible. Luckily, the GM defeated a 'gravy train' motion seeking to pay $10 to each member who attends an OSSTF District 12 meeting. Time ran out before reforms proposed to make the OTBU constitution democratic could be entertained. Then it was time to scamper off to the buffet dinner and open bar, with the Executive eagerly leading the way.

Stay tuned for the Collective Bargaining Survey in the Fall of 2011. Although the Executive will keep the results secret, it is the only opportunity to indicate your bargaining issue priorities.

Members protesting mistreatment in Toronto secondary schools pierced the bureaucratic indifference of the Occasional Teachers' Bargaining Unit Executive at the November 24, 2010 General Membership Meeting.

Rank and file voices at the microphones called attention to an escalating crisis. It consists of rising student rudeness, flagrant disregard for rules against i-Pod and cell phone use, chronic lateness, nasty threats, physical violence, theft of personal property, and the lack of support by school administrators and OTBU officials in the face of such daily outrages.

The OTBU meeting, with less than 95 of 1800 members present at the usual transit-remote location in Don Mills, approved a Substitute Teachers' Action Caucus resolution. It asks the OTBU Executive to investigate the student behaviour crisis by soliciting membership in-put. It directs the Executive to make a deputation, with recommendations, to TDSB officials.

Unfortunately, a vital part of the resolution calling for an emergency OTBU General Meeting in March 2011, where members could voice their concerns in person and make recommendations for change, was deleted by amendment. Another problem is the lack of any time line for action. Still, in the words of the old adage, half a loaf is better than none.

This was also the case in the election of delegates to AMPA 2011 (the OSSTF annual convention, held during the March Break). The Action Caucus team of candidates received between 18 and 42 per cent of the votes cast; indeed two were elected the first and second alternate delegates. With a mere seven or eight more votes, at least two Action Caucus candidates would have been elected delegates outright.

Other Action Caucus motions to increase the frequency of OTBU meetings, and to make the location more rapid transit-friendly, were defeated. An establishment-backed motion to extend OTBU membership for substitutes who work only one or two days a year (which reflects the thinning base of the feckless executive) did pass. Time ran out before consideration of a motion to study the feasibility of dissolving the OTBU into the Toronto secondary schools permanent contract teachers' bargaining unit.

Questions to the President and Treasurer about the lack of paid P.D. and the amount of union money given directly to individual Executive members, were either ignored, or answered evasively. New activists in attendance took note, spoke out forcefully, and appreciated the progress accomplished by persistent effort -- such as last April's successful Action Caucus motion requiring the executive to make available to members the full tentative collective agreement language at least a week prior to any ratification vote, if possible.

As the influence of the opposition grows, we shall see whether the OTBU Executive carries out the clear mandate to tackle the current behaviour crisis, or instead opts to reap the whirlwind.

Photos from the meeting are up at this location.

Please attend and vote for the Action Caucus candidates for Delegates to AMPA 2011:

James Bright
Janine Carter
Ghislain Deridder
Benedicta Lloren
Gurcharan Singh
Ihor Turjansky
Peter Wilson
Kathryn Winton


Resolutions for Nov. 24, 2010 Toronto OTBU General Meeting

which will be held at 4:30 p.m. at the Latvian Centre, 4 Credit Union Drive, just south of Eglinton, two lights east of the Don Valley Pkwy. The resolutions are presented by the Substitute Teachers’ Action Caucus. Contact us at 416 - 588-9090. Visit our web site at: torontosubstituteteachers.tripod.com.

1. Investigation and Action on the Student 'Behavior' Crisis

Be It Resolved That this meeting request the Executive to undertake an investigation of the problem of student uncooperativeness, rudeness and violence towards Occasional Teachers, the enquiry to be conducted by soliciting in-put from the Membership at a General Membership Meeting to be convened in March 2011, and by requesting submissions in writing, with all recommendations for improvement of student behavior to be presented by an OTBU delegation to the appropriate TDSB Standing Committee, as well as in writing to the Chair and Director of the TDSB, as soon as possible following the General Membership Meeting convened for this purpose.

Moved by Barry Weisleder, seconded by Maureen Malmud.

Rationale: Although this problem is not suffered exclusively by substitute teachers, it is a rapidly growing crisis and it leaves our members most vulnerable to its consequences.

2. More frequent OTBU General Membership Meetings

Be It Resolved That this meeting request the Toronto OTBU Executive to convene at least four General Membership Meetings per school year, each meeting to be held no less than 30, and no more than 60 school days apart.

Moved by Barry Weisleder, seconded by Janine Carter.

Rationale: It is grossly inadequate for the Executive to convene only one or two OTBU General Meetings per school year to do the business of such a large bargaining unit. Prior to 2003 the OTBU held five or six General Meetings per school year, plus one or two Socials. Now the Executive operates almost entirely behind closed doors. At the infrequent General Meetings, members’ questions are often not answered, the meeting time is limited and inadequate. For a more open and transparent bargaining unit, for one that would maximize membership involvement and leadership accountability, at least four General Meetings per school year are necessary.

3. Reduce the Secondary O.T. dispatch list

Be It Resolved That this meeting request the Executive and other appropriate Toronto OTBU representatives to ask the joint TDSB/OTBU Staffing Committee and the Secondary Occasional Teachers' Consultation Committee to take all necessary steps towards facilitating the reduction of the Secondary Occasional Teachers' Dispatch List to 1200 names as soon as possible by a process of attrition and without arbitrarily removing anyone currently on said list.

Moved by Barry Weisleder, seconded by Maureen Malmud.

Rationale: The Toronto OTBU Executive and Collective Bargaining Committee promised in 2008 to make restoration of the cap on the secondary panel O.T. Dispatch list a high priority in bargaining. Later, they promised to work to reduce the list by attrition through the joint Staffing Committee. Neither promise was kept. Many members continue to suffer loss of work and income. Action is needed now, especially in light of declining student enrolement and TDSB plans to close a number of schools.

4. Eliminate “Preferred” Lists at TDSB Secondary Schools

Be It Resolved That this meeting request the Executive to seek, at Consultation Committee and by all other appropriate means, the elimination of the practice, within the TDSB, of secondary school administrators maintaining and utilizing ‘Preferred’ lists of Occasional Teachers enabling them to request certain OT s ahead of other qualified OT s on the TDSB secondary panel dispatch list for occasional teaching assignments.

Moved by Barry Weisleder, seconded by Maureen Malmud

Rationale: Cronyism, favoritism, even nepotism are a significant factor in the distribution of occasional teaching assignments in the TDSB’s secondary panel. The job of the union is to do its best to ensure that its members can make a decent living, and to reduce instances of school administrators providing occasional teaching assignments on the basis of old school ties or other factors that have little to do with equity, fairness, economic need and subject qualification.

5. More accessible Location for OTBU Meetings

Be It Resolved That this meeting request the Executive to ensure that all future Toronto OTBU meetings, including General Meetings, AGMs, Committee meetings, Collective Bargaining, Tentative Agreement and other informational meetings, Professional Development activities, and OT work shops be held at a TDSB school or at an OSSTF facility within 1 km of a TTC subway station on the Bloor-Danforth line, between Dufferin and Coxwell Stations inclusive, or on the Yonge Street line, between College and Lawrence Stations inclusive, or on the University line, between Queen's Park and Eglinton West Stations inclusive.  

  

Moved by Barry Weisleder, seconded by Janine Carter.

Rationale: OTBU meetings could be held at a TDSB or OSSTF facilities -- for little or no cost, as was done prior to 2003. Obtainable space at 1482 Bathurst Street (the OSSTF D12 building) and at TDSB schools situated close to a centrally located TTC subway station can easily accommodate an attendance of 200 or more. The banquet halls and restaurants currently used by the OTBU cost over $1000 for rental of meeting space, parking, and refreshments. Equally important is the fact that 60 Mobile Drive and adjacent venues, situated in Don Mills, are difficult to reach via public transit – taking over an hour and a half from any great distance. But a meeting space near a central subway station can be reached by public transit in about half that time. This is a particularly important consideration for members who have after-school family care and teaching duties. To save money and to make OTBU meetings more accessible to members who do not have cars, please vote for this motion.

Proposed Resolution for submission to AMPA 2011

1. Be It Resolved that OSSTF Article 11 be amended by deleting the current 11.1.3, and replacing it with an Article “11.1.3  Teacher Sector”
and adding an Article  “11.1.4  Occasional Teacher Sector",
and delete from the Sector Council Constitution Article 4.1.3.1   
and
by amending the Sector Council Constitution (A.05) Article 1 Name, to read as follows:
“1.1 The name of the Sector Council shall be the
1.1.1  Teacher Sector Council;
1.1.2  Occasional Teacher Sector Council;
1.1.3  Education Support Staff Sector Council;
1.1.4  Professional Student Services Personnel Sector Council.
1.2     Each Sector Council may also be referred to as the “Council of Presidents” for its respective sector.”

and by deleting Article 4.1.3.1 in the Sector Council Constitution
and
by replacing all other references to "Teacher and Occasional Teacher Sector" in the provincial OSSTF Handbook with "Teacher Sector" and "Occasional Teacher Sector".

Moved by Barry Weisleder, seconded by Maureen Malmud.

Rationale: The OSSTF policy is to ‘merge’ or dissolve occasional teachers’ bargaining units into the full-time secondary teachers’ units wherever possible. The establishment in 2005 of a Teachers’ Sector in OSSTF, in which OT s are vastly outnumbered, was another step in that direction. The immediate interests of Occasional Teachers and contract teachers are not always identical. The working conditions, job security, benefits and remuneration of the two occupational groups are radically different. There are about 5,000 OT s, with a 'full-time equivalency' of over 2,000 inside OSSTF. The combined Teachers' Sector has done nothing to improve job security or benefits, or to restore paid P.D. for Occasional Teachers. Democracy demands that OT s have our own Sector to protect and advance the interests of our members. Please support this resolution.

The May 2010 Toronto Occasional Teachers' Bargaining Unit (OTBU) Executive election was a farce -- another in a long line of bogus OTBU elections since 2003. As the results show, more and more substitute teachers recognize it for what it is.

Out of a membership of over 1860 on the union list, only 477 cast ballots. That is nearly one hundred less than the votes recorded in the 2008 OTBU election.

Once again, dozens of members did not receive a voting package containing the rules, return envelopes and a ballot. Eleven votes were not counted due to errors in the needlessly complicated voting/mailing procedure. Almost all of the envelopes mailed back to the OTBU address had the stamp cancellation post-mark "M4L", which means that they all went through the same Canada Post sortation plant. This is extremely odd considering that OTBU members reside all across the GTA and beyond.

The ten members of the Toronto OTBU Elections Committee, all appointed by the Executive incumbents, are retired teachers drawn from amongst the incumbents' supporters. No wonder the establishment faction candidates did not bother to appoint any scrutineers to observe the vote count on May 27. They controlled the election process from start to finish.

Before the 2003 'coup' by which the conservative, pro-management faction undemocratically seized control of the OTBU, the unit routinely held five or six membership meetings per school year. It held elections, not only to fill Executive offices, but for virtually every position in the unit (Bargaining Committee, Health and Safety reps, Labour Council reps, Newsletter Committee, etc.). Now the Executive appoints all committee positions. There are only two general membership meetings per year. And Executive minutes are kept secret.

The OTBU used to convene meetings and conduct elections in-person at a rapid transit-friendly site, in a central OSSTF or TDSB school building (free of charge, with plenty of parking spaces available). Members showed I.D. at the door, received their ballots for voting at the reception table, met and questioned all the candidates, and got the election results for each OTBU executive position instantly -- without the OTBU spending thousands of dollars on stamps and paper.

The opposition Action Caucus team of candidates asked in April for a list including phone numbers of OTBU members in order to make direct contact for campaign purposes. Although this request was granted in 2008, and in preceding OTBU elections, this time the Elections Committee refused to provide such a list.

Naturally, the incumbents are in contact with members throughout their two-year term. They control the OTBU Newsletter. They generate a great amount of misleading, self-promoting propaganda. They exclude all written submissions by opposition members. They have year-round access to membership data stored in the OTBU office, situated in a Don Mills luxury apartment building. Ordinary members are not permitted to visit the OTBU office.

Once again, this writer was barred from running in the OTBU election on the basis of spurious, vexatious and absurd grounds. I made a public deputation to a public TDSB committee in September 2008, when no collective bargaining was taking place. Nonetheless, I was accused of 'interfering with bargaining' and barred from seeking office until the next collective agreement is in place, which could be 2013, or later.

Although not a candidate, I was verbally attacked in speeches by two leading candidates of the establishment faction at the AGM on April 28, held at the Latvian Centre in Don Mills. One of them also slandered our candidate for President, Peter Wilson.

Do you think this election occurred on a level playing field, one that is equal for all candidates for Toronto OTBU office?

For several of these reasons, an Action Caucus candidates filed a complaint with OSSTF head office about the Toronto OTBU election. We are not holding our breathe in anticipation of justice, but we are determined to continue the struggle for a democratic union by every available means.

Despite all the odds and obstacles stacked against the Action Caucus, we achieved positive gains over the past two years. We won a guarantee that all tentative collective agreement language will be made available to members at least a week prior to a ratification vote. We helped to block an attempt to dissolve the OTBU into the secondary contract teachers' bargaining unit, and stopped a motion to give friends of the executive honoraria of up to $500 each. We put a dent into executive secrecy and wastefulness.

And in the latest farcical election, our candidates attracted a solid vote, about 25 per cent, which represents in increase in support for our cause. Here are the actual vote results for each of the contests:

President Linda Bartram 350 Peter Wilson 127

First V.P. Qaisar Alam 94 Vince Zambrano 377

Second V.P. Ann Burke 289 Chris Sojka 100 Rudy Winter 75

Treasurer Shakeel Ahad 234 Janine Carter 139 Rudy Winter* 91

Secretary Linda Enright 361 Ihor Turjansky 115

Executive Officers (4 to be elected) Paul Bocking 211 Coleridge Brown 273 David Hopkins 345 Ahmed Mezouri 81 Jennifer Mills 361 Bill Pryde 151 Gurcharan Singh 75 Peter Wilson* 149 Kathryn Winton 133

* denotes drop-down candidate

Thus, 'independent' Bill Pryde was knocked off the Executive, 'independent' Rudy Winter fell farther behind, and the young, inexperienced, co-opted Paul Bocking slides in on the greasy coat tails of the establishment.

If you compare these results to those of 2008 you will notice that support for establishment candidates declined due to the lower voter participation rate, but that it declined more for them than did votes for Action Caucus candidates for President and Executive Officer positions. While the ranks of the establishment are thinning and disintegrating, the progressive opposition continues to unite and grow.

Now it is your turn to get involved. Help us to build a positive alternative for all Toronto substitute teachers, to win job security, decent benefits, paid P.D. and dignity at work. Join the Action Caucus by replying to this e-message, or by phoning: 416 - 588-9090.

Posted here are some photos taken at the Toronto OTBU AGM, April 28, 2010 at 4 Credit Union Drive. With only 124 of 1858 members in attendance at the Don Mills location, there were many empty chairs in the expensive banquet hall. The pictures show the OTBU ruling faction at the head table, Action Caucus candidate for V.P. Chris Sojka registering for the meeting, four activists at the microphone trying to obtain some answers from the Executive, Action Caucus candidate for President Peter Wilson speaking to the gathering, candidate Kathryn Winton at the podium, with Gurcharan Singh and others waiting for their turn.

Persistent demands by the Action Caucus for financial accountability and transparency clearly put the incumbents off their game plan. Harmful resolutions designed to pave the way to dissolution of the OTBU into the much larger full-time contract teachers' bargaining unit, and to enshrine honoraria of up to $500 for members and friends of the Executive, did not come to the floor. Unfortunately, neither did Action Caucus proposals for swift action on job insecurity and deteriorating classroom conditions see the light of day – to say nothing of our motions for democratic reform of the OTBU constitution.

OTBU 'leaders' side-stepped concerns about members' postal addresses missing from the data base, about members not receiving newsletters and mail-in ballots, and about Executive inaction re: school closures and declining work opportunities.

But the Chief Negotiator and the 1st V.P. did take the time to libel and slander Barry Weisleder (who is not a candidate for office at this time due to undemocratic OSSTF rulings). Their rude and misleading remarks will likely lead to charges against V. Zambrano and L. Bartram for violating the OSSTF constitution.

We attempted to extend the meeting time to allow members to address issues that matter to us all, but the majority in the hall (most of them conservative retirees) voted No.

The chair adjourned the meeting at 7 p.m., although very little business had been transacted. The depleted ranks then made a bee-line across the parking lot to the complementary buffet dinner and the free wine and beer bar at 60 Mobile Drive.

Several teachers newly joined the Action Caucus. Some volunteered to be scrutineers for our candidates in the mail-in ballot election, with votes to be counted at OSSTF on May 27. Now the main task ahead is to contact members, to ask them to vote for the Action Caucus Team of candidates for the OTBU Executive. If you can help, please call 416 – 588-9090. It's time to return this union to its members. Together, we can do better!

The sparsely-attended Toronto Occasional Teachers' Bargaining Unit (OTBU) General Meeting on November 25/09 was the scene of more stonewalling and obfuscation to try to conceal the failure of the local executive and provincial OSSTF to fight for job security and dignity for substitute teachers.

Our Action Caucus candidates for AMPA delegates received between 13 and 33 per cent of the votes cast, and presented a coherent and compelling alternative to the conservative clique that has undemocratically controlled the bargaining unit since 2003.

One minor victory was registered for the rank and file opposition: the meeting adopted a watered-down version of an Action Caucus policy resolution calling on the executive to ensure that actual proposed collective agreement language be made available to OTBU members prior to any vote on a tentative agreement. Now the policy asks the executive to present the contract language changes "if possible".

Concerning the battle for a 'cap' and reduction of the secondary panel dispatch list, the fight for needed action on the growing problem of student misbehavior, and the need for more accessible and more frequent OTBU meetings.... the struggle continues!

Resolutions for Wednesday, November 25, 2009 Toronto OTBU General Meeting
which will be held at 4:30 p.m. at the Latvian Centre, 4 Credit Union Drive, just south of Eglinton, two lights east of the Don Valley Pkwy. The resolutions are presented by the Substitute Teachers’ Action Caucus. Contact us at 416 - 588-9090. Visit our new web site at: torontosubstituteteachers.tripod.com.

1. Contract Language should be presented prior to Ratification Vote

Be It Resolved That this meeting request the Executive to ensure that when the next actual proposed (Tentative) Collective Agreement is presented, or made accessible to members, that the actual collective agreement language be provided, along with any brief outline of the contents, at least one week prior to the ratification vote.
Moved by Peter Wilson, seconded by Barry Weisleder.

Rationale: As is often the case, the ‘devil is in the details’. It is crucial that every effort be made to fully inform all Toronto OTBU members about the actual contents, in detail, of the Tentative Agreement well before any ratification vote is held, so that members can make an informed decision affecting their collective, personal and professional future.

2. Reduce the Secondary O.T. dispatch list

Be It Resolved That this meeting request the Executive and other appropriate Toronto OTBU representatives to ask the joint TDSB/OTBU Staffing Committee and the Secondary Occasional Teachers' Consultation Committee to take all necessary steps towards facilitating the reduction of the Secondary Occasional Teachers' Dispatch List to 1200 names as soon as possible by a process of attrition and without arbitrarily removing anyone currently on said list.
Moved by Barry Weisleder, seconded by Maureen Malmud.

Rationale: The Toronto OTBU Executive and Collective Bargaining Committee promised in 2008 to make restoration of the cap on the secondary panel O.T. Dispatch list a high priority in bargaining. Later, they promised to work to reduce the list by attrition through the joint Staffing Committee. Neither promise was kept. Many members continue to suffer loss of work and income. Action is needed now, especially in light of declining student enrolment and TDSB plans to close a number of schools.

3. Investigation and Action on the Student 'Behavior' Crisis

Be It Resolved That this meeting request the Executive to undertake an investigation of the problem of student uncooperativeness, rudeness and violence towards Occasional Teachers, the enquiry to be conducted by soliciting in-put from the Membership at a General Membership Meeting to be convened in March 2010, and by requesting submissions in writing, with all recommendations for improvement of student behavior to be presented by an OTBU delegation to the appropriate TDSB Standing Committee, as well as in writing to the Chair and Director of the TDSB, as soon as possible following the General Membership Meeting convened for this purpose.
Moved by Barry Weisleder, seconded by Maureen Malmud.

Rationale: Although this problem is not suffered exclusively by substitute teachers, it is a rapidly growing crisis and it leaves our members most vulnerable to its consequences.

4. More accessible Location for OTBU Meetings

Be It Resolved That this meeting request the Executive to ensure that all future Toronto OTBU meetings, including General Meetings, AGMs, Committee meetings, Collective Bargaining, Tentative Agreement and other informational meetings, Professional Development activities, and OT work shops be held at a TDSB school or at an OSSTF facility within 1 km of a TTC subway station on the Bloor-Danforth line, between Dufferin and Coxwell Stations inclusive, or on the Yonge Street line, between College and Lawrence Stations inclusive, or on the University line, between Queen's Park and Eglinton West Stations inclusive.
Moved by Barry Weisleder, seconded by Janine Carter.

Rationale: OTBU meetings could be held at a TDSB or OSSTF facilities -- for little or no cost, as was done prior to 2003. Obtainable space at 1482 Bathurst Street (the OSSTF D12 building) and at TDSB schools situated close to a centrally located TTC subway station can easily accommodate an attendance of 200 or more. The banquet halls and restaurants used by the OTBU cost over $1000 for rental of meeting space, parking, and refreshments. Equally important is the fact that 60 Mobile Drive and adjacent venues, situated in Don Mills, are difficult to reach via public transit – taking over an hour and a half from any great distance. But any meeting space near a central subway station can be reached by public transit in about half that time. This is a particularly important consideration for members who have after-school family care and teaching duties. To save money and to make OTBU meetings more accessible to members who do not have cars, please vote for this motion.

5. More frequent OTBU General Membership Meetings

Be It Resolved That this meeting request the Toronto OTBU Executive to convene at least four General Membership Meetings per school year, each meeting to be held no less than 30, and no more than 60 school days apart.

Moved by Barry Weisleder, seconded by Janine Carter.

Rationale: It is grossly inadequate for the Executive to convene only one or two OTBU General Meetings per school year to do the business of such a large bargaining unit. Prior to 2003 the OTBU held five or six General Meetings per school year, plus one or two Socials. Now the Executive operates almost entirely behind closed doors. At the infrequent General Meetings, members’ questions are often not answered, the meeting time is limited and inadequate. For a more open and transparent bargaining unit, for one that would maximize membership involvement and leadership accountability, at least four General Meetings per school year are necessary.

Proposed Resolutions for submission to AMPA 2010

1. For a Distinct Sector organization for Occasional Teachers in OSSTF

Be It Resolved that OSSTF Article 11 be amended by deleting the current 11.1.3, and replacing it with an Article “11.1.3 Teacher Sector” and adding an Article “11.1.4 Occasional Teacher Sector", and delete from the Sector Council Constitution Article 4.1.3.1
and
by amending the Sector Council Constitution (A.05) Article 1 Name, to read as follows: “1.1 The name of the Sector Council shall be the
1.1.1 Teacher Sector Council;
1.1.2 Occasional Teacher Sector Council;
1.1.3 Education Support Staff Sector Council;
1.1.4 Professional Student Services Personnel Sector Council.
1.2 Each Sector Council may also be referred to as the “Council of Presidents” for its respective sector.”
and
by replacing all other references to "Teacher and Occasional Teacher Sector" in the provincial OSSTF Handbook with "Teacher Sector" and "Occasional Teacher Sector".
Moved by Barry Weisleder, seconded by Maureen Malmud.

Rationale: The OSSTF policy is to ‘merge’ or dissolve occasional teachers’ bargaining units into the full-time secondary teachers’ units wherever possible. The establishment in 2005 of a Teachers’ Sector in OSSTF, in which OT s are vastly outnumbered, was another step in that direction. The immediate interests of Occasional Teachers and contract teachers are not always identical. The working conditions, job security, benefits and remuneration of the two occupational groups are radically different. There are about 5,000 OT s, with a full-time equivalency in excess of 2,000 inside OSSTF. The combined Teachers' Sector has done nothing to improve job security or benefits, or to restore paid P.D. for OT s. Democracy demands that OT s have our own Sector to protect and advance the interests of our members. Please support this resolution.

What are your concerns, your beefs, your pet peeves? What changes would you like to see in working conditions at the TDSB, concerning our rights on the job, and opportunities for advancement?

Join us for refreshments, and conversation. Let’s create a common agenda.

We have vital information to share concerning:
* provisions of the latest collective agreement.
* access to daily jobs, LTO positions, schools’ preferred lists, the problem of cronyism, and the need for a Capped ‘occasional teachers’ dispatch list.
* the growing incidence of violence against teachers, 'on-calls', access to classroom keys, life in mouldy classrooms, and other issues of working conditions.

Our meeting will focus on plans for the OTBU General Meeting on Wed., November 25, 4:30 p.m. at the Latvian Centre, 4 Credit Union Drive, one stop light east of the Don Valley Parkway. This will include the resolutions and candidates for AMPA 2010 that we will present to the OTBU meeting.

For more information,

call the Toronto Substitute Teachers’ Action Caucus Help Line at 416 - 588-9090. Visit our new web site at: www.torontosubstituteteachers.tripod.com

While Toronto secondary school contract teachers continue to negotiate with the local school board, the OSSTF Toronto District 12 Occasional Teachers’ Bargaining Unit (OTBU) wrapped up contract talks early in January.

What was the hurry? Why was there a deadline of less than one week to return mailed ballots and vote on the contract?

No wonder only about 550 of 2000 members voted.

Why was the mailed information about job security and the dispatch list so obscure and misleading? (A toothless “Staffing Committee”.)

Why the rush to entrench a dirty deal that condemns a growing number of substitute teachers to chronic underemployment and poverty?

The answers are self-evident: to avoid close scrutiny, to prevent organized opposition, and to quickly seal a rotten deal.
Here are some facts you need to know:

1. For another four years there will be no cap or limit on the secondary dispatch list. Despite six years of members demanding reduction of the list by attrition, and the re-establishment of a low cap (which OSSTF officials gave away in 2003), and despite promises from the OTBU president and chief negotiator last Fall to make cap attainment a top priority, there are neither. Two thousand subs will continue to chase about 600 jobs daily.

The pathetic substitute for a crucial job security cap is a “Staffing Committee”. The joint Management-Union committee “will be working to develop protocols and language” to ‘manage’ the list. In other words, the OTBU mis-leaders will collaborate with TDSB officials to keep hundreds of substitute teachers going to the food bank and to the welfare office.

2.Touted are benefit improvements, but they are minuscule.

The 3 per cent pay raise in each of the next four years was mandated by the provincial government. It was not the result of any local effort.

But the key point is this: without sufficient work, members cannot even qualify for benefits, or earn enough to keep head above water.

Now, we are locked into this disastrous deal for four years – heading into the worst worldwide depression since the 1930s.

3. The reduction in the Long Term Occasional (LTO) qualifying threshold to 10 days, and the recognition of daily teaching experience for LTO grid placement, follow gains won by elementary supply teachers in Toronto three years ago. The same applies to clauses about evaluation and teaching materials. Instead of being leaders, as we were in the 1990s, the secondary OTBU is a rather limp tail.

4. The ‘sheer chutzpah’ award goes to the OTBU President who claims in the March 2009 OTBU News that by “compressing” the daily salary grid from four steps to two, it “benefit(s) our most junior (vulnerable) members”. The truth is that many ‘new’ substitute teachers are retired teachers who have pension income and who enjoy most of the daily and LTO assignments from September through February each year.

Back in 1990, when we won the four daily experience steps, along with a 25 per cent pay raise, the result of a victorious three-week strike by OPSEU Local 595 at the City of Toronto Board of Education, our bottom pay step was near the top pay level in Ontario. The additional steps were the icing on the cake – a recognition of the value of members’ experience and dedication. But after 1997, OSSTF negotiators crippled OTBU contract bargaining and our wages fell behind most units in Ontario.
In summary:

The latest OTBU contract is a disgrace. It is a sell-out of the interests of members, especially the poorest, youngest, the most recent immigrants, women and racialized groups. It was a rushed ‘sell’ job. Once again, many members did not even get information or a ballot to vote.

In light of the deepening economic crisis, the contract should be re-opened immediately to negotiate a job security cap of 1200 names, or less.

The Executive and negotiators should resign from office in shame.

A New Year is fast approaching, so it is time to reflect for a moment, to enjoy the holiday break, and to plan ahead.

2008 witnessed the onset of a global economic crisis. It was also a year of fewer job opportunities and lower income for many Toronto substitute teachers.

The OTBU Executive failed to provide leadership to deal with the jobs crisis. They appear to be in disarray, and continue to operate under the cloak of secrecy. They called a meeting to vote on provincial bargaining, but somehow the news didn't reach many, and barely 20 members showed up on Nov. 5.

At the OTBU meeting of November 26, the executive used familiar tricks to short circuit democracy. Still, the Substitute Teachers' Action Caucus made some headway.

Former Chief Negotiator Peter Wilson presented a motion to amend the agenda to ensure that a very timely resolution on collective bargaining would be discussed early in the meeting. The chair took the vote and declared the motion passed. But Liz Barkley objected and demanded a re-vote. Following two re-votes, after a number of members scurried into the hall, the chair declared the motion defeated.

The President, the Treasurer, and the Chief Negotiator gave reports. Questions from members were permitted. But the answers were typically evasive. The Executive still refuses to reveal the actual opening demands that will be presented to TDSB Management. The Executive still refuses to explain why it continues to waste $1000 to rent the Latvian Centre for each OTBU meeting, rather than book free space for an OTBU meeting at a central TDSB school, or at another central OSSTF facility, on the subway line. And they won't say how much each Executive member is being paid to staff the office in the luxury condo in Don Mills.

Candidates seeking to be a delegate to the OSSTF convention in March 2009 spoke to the meeting for a minute each. The vote results were announced at the buffet dinner and open bar -- long after the meeting ended. While the establishment slate won the 8 delegate positions, the Action Caucus-backed candidates received up to one-third of the votes (much better than past results when the ruling group won by a 3 to 1 or 4 to 1 margin).

The first and second runners-up were Peter Wilson and Barry Weisleder -- and thus should be the first and second alternate delegates respectively at AMPA 2009 if past practice is followed. It is likely that one or both of us will be on the convention floor replacing resigned or absent delegates.

After the election segment, it was time to debate resolutions.

This year the Action Caucus submitted only six resolutions, instead of the usual dozen or more. But our effort to be more selective, and to put brand new resolutions to the top of the list, was thwarted by the OTBU Executive. They turned our list of resolutions upside down. They put recycled resolutions (about which they've complained in the past) at the top, and the new, timely ones at the bottom.

Why? Well, with only 30 minutes available to discuss resolutions, during a two and a half hour meeting, there just isn't enough time to discuss more than a couple of them. Thus, Action Caucus resolutions focusing on ensuring members' access to the actual negotiated contract language prior to voting on a tentative agreement, and concerning the growing problem of disrespect and violence towards substitute teachers in the schools, did not reach the floor before adjournment at 7 p.m.

What a shame! Once again, what a farce!

But the struggle continues. The forces working for constructive change in the OTBU are growing. And we are uniting members old and new. It's only a matter of time until we win accountability, transparency, fairness and democracy in the Toronto OTBU.
Currently, I am making a special effort to seek support for the cause of justice for substitute teachers.

I am running for a position on the Ontario College of Teachers' Governing Council. My nomination was officially received last week. The vote will take place between March 9 and April 14, 2009 to elect 23 representatives to the College Council.

You may vote electronically via a ballot in the Members' area of the College web site: www.oct.ca The March 2009 edition of Professionally Speaking will include voting information, a list of candidates and detailed biographical data.
I hope you will take the time to vote for Barry Weisleder for the Central Region, part-time/full-time rep position.
In the meantime, have a safe and happy holiday season.

I wish you and your family a healthy and prosperous 2009.
In solidarity,
Barry Weisleder

The Toronto Occasional Teachers' Bargaining Unit special meeting on provincial bargaining, held at the Latvian Centre, 4 Credit Union Drive on Wednesday, Nov. 5, was a fraud and a farce -- of miniature proportions.

Only twenty members attended -- out of a total membership of about 2000. The attendance consisted mostly of the OTBU Executive, their hangers-on, and a handful of other folks. There was no notice to members of the meeting apart from an automated telephone message just a few days before Nov. 5 -- and many members did not receive even that.

A visibly embarrassed OTBU President David Hopkins tried to explain away the poor notice and poorer turnout. He then introduced provincial OSSTF V.P. Jack Jones and provincial negotiator Dale Leckie. They took up the task of persuading those present to vote in favour of giving the Federation a mandate to negotiate a deal with the Ontario government. That deal would create a financial framework for local contracts -- assigning pools of money for general purposes. In other words, it would establish how much provincial money would be available to fund working conditions and benefits in local contracts, and set a wage raise of 3 per cent in each of the next four years.

During a question period, several members asked for explanations and details. Officials gave answers that were, for the most part, vague and evasive. Hopkins and other members of the OTBU local bargaining team refused to enumerate our local bargaining priorities. They continue to keep secret the results of the membership bargaining issues survey of September 2007.

We did learn that not one substitute teacher sits on the provincial OSSTF bargaining team, and that only one sub from a small northern school board is on the 14-member "advisory committee" that sits in a back room, far from the actual negotiations.

Suddenly, the chair ended all discussion. Ballots were distributed, marked and collected. Soon the room emptied without any vote results being announced. No doubt, the Executive will report this as a 'victory' for democracy. They will assert that the vote to mandate provincial bargaining for Toronto substitute teachers, deceptively lumped together with the thousands of votes of regular contract teachers, was overwhelmingly for the Yes. They will omit to mention the fact that less than 1 per cent of the OTBU membership voted to set a precedent that may cripple the possibilities for progress for Toronto substitute teachers for years to come.

There should be many questions asked about this farcical process. Those questions should be asked at the next OTBU General Meeting on Wednesday, November 26, 4:30 p.m. -- to be held at the same inconvenient location.

The Toronto Occasional Teachers' Bargaining Unit (OTBU) election results tabulated on June 5 show that Action Caucus candidates scored between 22% and 33% of the valid ballots cast. While none of our candidates was elected, this is an improvement on our vote results of two years ago, and of four years ago -- despite the fact that fewer votes were cast this time.

Yes, only 564 members, out of 2100 names on the OT list, voted for president. Even fewer voted for other offices. Only 492 voted for Second Vice President. Some may think this is a product of complacency.

But we discovered, via our telephone canvass, that once again, dozens of members, possibly hundreds, did not get voting packages at all. The phone numbers for many names on the membership list given to the Action Caucus by the outgoing OTBU Executive are inaccurate, so it is impossible to know how many members were disenfranchised.

What a damning indictment of the bogus mail-in ballot process, and of those officials who use it to perpetuate their control and mismanagement of the bargaining unit!

Nonetheless, through this flawed exercise the Action Caucus gained many new friends, allies and supporters. Clearly, the struggle for a democratic union and the effort to achieve justice for substitute teachers will continue, now stronger than ever.

The OTBU election has been challenged on the grounds that many members did not receive a voting package, plus the fact that, as in previous mail-in ballot elections, there is no way to verify that the votes submitted by mail were actually cast exclusively by Toronto OTBU members in good standing.

For more information, visit the Toronto Substitute Teachers’ Action Caucus web site at: http://torontosubstituteteachers.tripod.com

and telephone: 416 - 588-9090

The gathering, one of only two OTBU general meetings held each year, started 20 minutes late, and was pre-determined to end 15 minutes earlier than usual. Large blocks of time were allocated to reports from the OTBU President, OTBU Treasurer, a provincial OSSTF executive member, plus “Other OTBU reports”. That left 45 minutes for the election of AMPA delegates, and scarcely 20 minutes to discuss 11 resolutions. One of those was submitted by the OTBU executive; the rest by the Action Caucus.

In fact, only four resolutions were debated at all. Others were either ruled out of order (the OTBU executive having provided no advice prior to the meeting as to how a simple re-wording might remedy the situation). Or, they were not addressed due to the manufactured shortage of time. Sadly, this excluded brand new proposals from the Action Caucus for special membership meetings to investigate the growing incidence of student misbehavior towards substitute teachers, to look into the dysfunctional dispatch system, and to publish monthly data on the size of the dispatch list.

David Hopkins, Toronto OTBU President, shrugged off the jobs crisis that is impinging on a majority of members. He insisted that school board statistics show that there’s more work than ever – then in the same breathe he conceded that declining student enrollment and fewer contract teachers means less work for substitutes. When the chair blocked a supplementary question to Hopkins, pandemonium erupted.

Join us now in planning the transition to responsible, effective, democratic leadership and a rejuvenated, membership-driven, fighting union in 2008.

Come to the next Action Caucus meeting, which will be held in mid-March at OISE, 252 Bloor St. West.

Until then, enjoy the holidays. Have a safe, happy and healthy New Year.

For more information, visit the Toronto Substitute Teachers’ Action Caucus web site at: http://torontosubstitutes.tripod.com and telephone: 416 - 588-9090

Our story begins in the mid-1970s. When I graduated from teachers’ college at the University of Toronto there were few full-time teaching vacancies in southern Ontario. I worked as a substitute teacher and soon discovered how poorly my co-workers and I were being treated by management. In the early 1980s a group of us petitioned the school board to issue pay to subs every two weeks, instead of on a monthly basis, with a one month delay. We won that concession, and decided to organize to win more improvements. We had dreams of a big pay hike, a guaranteed minimum amount of work and a decent guaranteed salary per week, and paid fringe benefits. In 1983 we unionized City of Toronto substitute teachers; the secondary and elementary panels were organized together. We became a local of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. We had approached the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF), but it refused to organize us. Then OSSTF, led by Liz Barkley, conducted a raid on our secondary bargaining unit in 1986. We defeated the raid in a vote run by the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

OPSEU Local 595 (City of Toronto Substitute Teachers) waged a three-week long strike in 1990. Most people, including some of our own members, said it could not be done. But we picketed school board headquarters, its truck delivery depot, and a few large schools. Over three-quarters of our members honoured the strike (the Long Term Subs were the biggest problem). We got support from other unions on the line, and received plenty of media attention. We held large weekly rallies featuring live music, snack food and solidarity speakers, who came from far and wide. Finally, we won. We achieved break-through gains in wages (a 25% increase), job security (a capped list), pay for daily teaching experience, a paid union-run annual professional development day, and access to shared-cost health benefits. Over the course of 15 relatively happy years in OPSEU, we defended and improved upon those gains. We held general membership union meetings every month or two. We built up a large steward body, filed many successful grievances, conducted educational seminars, produced a regular ‘open to all in-put’ newsletter, held pre-holiday and summer socials, joined the Toronto Labour Council, and participated in many progressive campaigns within and beyond our work place. Our militant, democratic local union was widely admired.

But in late 1997 Ontario Conservative Premier Mike Harris ‘kidnapped’ us. By the stroke of a pen he legislated us out of OPSEU and into the teachers' federations. The new law separated secondary and elementary substitutes in the old downtown Toronto school board. (Some think this move was a sop to the secondary and elementary teachers’ federations for the government's removal of the high-dues-paying principals and vice principals from those unions.) The provincial government also amalgamated six local boards in Metro into one mega-school board for all of Toronto, the third largest school authority in North America.

In OSSTF, substitute teachers immediately faced a wall of hostility and a barrage of belittling treatment. Some of us had heard about the elitism, stifling formalism, and hyper-centralism of OSSTF, but up close and in person it was truly a case of culture shock. Provincial leaders of the union resented our local strength, our dedication to workers who they consider to be their inferiors, and our autonomy in action. In the 1998-99 round of teacher negotiations, provincial OSSTF officials signed local teacher contracts that increased on-call duties and the general work load of regular teachers. Thus, they blithely sacrificed the work and incomes of substitute teachers.

In 2001 a group consisting mostly of conservative-minded, retired teachers, who work as substitute teachers to supplement their pension incomes, launched a guerilla war inside our bargaining unit. They used parliamentary procedures to disrupt meetings.

In June 2002 our militant, democratic slate of incumbents, joined by new activist candidates, defeated the retirees-dominated slate in a very well-attended local election meeting. But the losers would not accept the result. They had laid disciplinary charges against us inside OSSTF. The charges were frivolous, vexatious, absurd – at best, exaggerated. They accused us of being rude to them; in reality they were gazing at their mirror image. But the truth did not matter. They had OSSTF money, lawyers and political power behind them.

The OSSTF Provincial Executive’s publicly stated policy favours dissolving substitute teacher bargaining units into the full-time teacher units where substitutes would continue to pay dues but would have almost no audible voice.

The OSSTF disciplinary body, the Judicial Council, made a mockery of due process, upheld a majority of the charges, and removed from office the 20-year long serving local President (the writer of these lines) who had just been re-elected. They barred me from holding office for 18 months. Upon appeal, they increased the ban to 32 months, and later hiked it up to 44 months. OSSTF officials purged my replacement, Maureen Malmud, then they purged the entire elected bargaining team. And then they removed the entire elected executive. They had already seized our operating funds back in October 2002. But the elected local Executive resisted the purge, and fought back. So, in Spring 2003, provincial OSSTF put the entire Occasional Teachers’ Bargaining Unit in trusteeship, which is a kind of union penalty box that allows the top bureaucrats to take full control.

During trusteeship the top brass ‘negotiated’ a collective agreement. The shameful deal they signed gave away our job security, liquidated our paid P.D., and allowed the employer to erode our benefits. To ratify the sell-out deal they conducted a bogus mail-in ballot. It was done Maggie Thatcher-style, preceded by false propaganda mailed to every member’s home. Then the top brass convened a meeting at an obscure location where officials pushed through an undemocratic replacement local constitution. Direct elections always held at membership meetings were suddenly replaced by bogus mail-in votes. Membership meetings, normally held five times a year, were reduced to a minimum of one a year. Membership on standing committees, reps to union-management committees, and delegates to labour council, always elected in the past, are now all appointed by the executive in camera.

Today we face a dire economic situation. Ordinary substitute teachers, workers who don't have pensions or other income, are hard pressed to make a living. Since the job security ‘cap’ on the dispatch list was abandoned by the OSSTF brass, the number of teachers on the dispatch list has increased by over 50%, while the number of daily jobs has declined. Most of the teachers added to the list are retirees. They are taking most of the available daily and long term assignments, leaving the rest of us with less work.

OSSTF officials show little concern about this disparity, about this income crisis. They continue to collect dues. Does it matter to them who the dues-payers are? In fact, they may think this disparity will help them to complete the purge, and to dissolve our unit into the larger full-time teachers’ unit, where substitutes would have little say.

But rank and file substitute teachers are fighting back. We formed the Toronto Substitute Teachers' Action Caucus. We take direct political action. We run candidates in OTBU elections. We leaflet OSSTF events, publish bulletins and newsletters, maintain a telephone help line (416 - 588-9090) and an informative web site. We lobby the Ontario Minister of Education, initiate legal action, and inform the entire labour movement about the justice of our cause.

We proudly joined with members of several other unions to initiate the Workers' Solidarity and Union Democracy Coalition. Every year we march in the Toronto Labour Day Parade and we hold open forums at conventions of the Ontario Federation of Labour.

"Give up" is a phrase not found in our vocabulary. We will fight until we restore union democracy. We will fight until we regain the job security, the decent pay and the working conditions we had – and more! We recognize that ours is a fight for a major change of direction, not only in OSSTF, but across the whole labour movement. We are up against powerful forces. But we also know that we are part of the working class. We know that working people produce all the goods and services, and that workers are the overwhelming majority of society. We just have to get management and their stooges off our backs.

Finally, we realize that we have no choice but to wage this struggle. For us, it's a matter of survival. Together, we shall overcome all obstacles. Together, we will do it sooner, rather than later. We invite you to join us today!

In solidarity,

Barry Weisleder, Past-President (1983-2003), Toronto Substitute Teachers

The Toronto Substitute Teachers’ Action Caucus invites you to the
Annual General Meeting of the
Toronto Occasional Teachers’ Bargaining Unit
Do you want a democratic union that works for you?
Do you want an elected Negotiating Team that will fight for job security (a capped dispatch list), improved benefits and better working conditions?
Do you want a reduction in the Special Levy that wastes your money on an inaccessible office in a Don Mills luxury apartment building, that squanders your dues dollars on poorly written and uninformative newsletters, on fake P.D., and on an ‘open bar’ at membership meetings?
Do you want fair union elections held at union meetings where members show I.D., and then can question and vote for candidates? Where the votes can be quickly and honestly counted?
Do you want more than two general meetings a year – for the sake of accountability?
Do you want an easier to reach location for meetings? Near to a central subway station?
Do you want to put an end to hidden finances, secret executive minutes, corrupt cronyism, and self-appointed reps to union and school board committees?
Do you want to replace insensitive, arrogant, incompetent local leadership that fails to properly represent ALL substitute teachers?