Toronto Substitute Teachers Action Caucus

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Toronto Substitute Teachers’
Grassroots Newsletter (in OSSTF District 12)

Join the Substitute Teachers’ Action Caucus.  Next mtg. April 7 @ OISE. 
Call the Help Line at 416-588-9090


March 2005  - 
Uncensored.  Produced by Toronto OTBU grassroots activists.

OSSTF Criminalizes Dissent

        The 50,000 member Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation tightened the screws on internal democracy by instituting new penalties aimed at opponents of bureaucratic union interference and misrepresentation.  The repressive measures were approved at the OSSTF annual convention on March 13 in Toronto.


        Now any member who “repeatedly breaches the rules of order” can be barred altogether from participation in OSSTF meetings.  What’s really behind this move?


        Over the past two years OSSTF officials purged the elected leadership of the 1600 member Toronto Substitute Teachers’ bargaining unit, gutted job security provisions, and replaced the local democratic constitution.  When rank and file members came out to protest these abuses, Federation bureaucrats and their appointed henchmen either cancelled local meetings, conducted business in secret, or ruled out any discussion from the floor.


        On the morning of March 13 in the convention hotel lobby, members and supporters of the Substitute Teachers’ Action Caucus displayed signs and distributed leaflets that said “Restore democracy in OSSTF”.  Inside the convention, despite objections by some delegates on civil liberties grounds, the majority voted to criminalize dissent.  Victims of the purge, excluded from the OTBU delegation, were muzzled.  The floor debate was dominated by those who undemocratically seized control of the Toronto substitute teachers’ unit in 2003 -- Liz Barkley and her crew of affluent retirees.


        In other developments, OSSTF president Rhonda Kimberley-Young was narrowly re-elected.  She defeated challenger and vice-president Ken Coran by a mere 12 votes of the 488 ballots cast.  Discontent with OSSTF leaders’ passivity in the face of persisting chronic under-funding of education, and government broken promises, led to several personnel changes on the provincial union executive and in amendments to the Plan of Action for 2005-2006.  Now Young is outnumbered by her opponents on the top body.  Members want militant action against the Ontario Liberal government.  Change is in the air.


“Preferred” and “Priority” Lists
        Each secondary school, according to our sources, is allowed to put a number of substitute teachers, equal to 20% of the number of regular teachers at that school, on to a “priority” list.  This is not the same as “preferred” lists which show substitute teachers according to subject qualifications and the zones and schools we choose to work.  “Priority” lists have become the preserve of retired teachers who are offered the first available jobs each day at those schools with such a list.  The Action Caucus is investigating this situation, how the OTBU exec allowed this to occur, and what should be done about it.  There will be a report on this issue at the April 7 Action Caucus meeting, OISE 2-212.


Substitute Teachers Can Access School Computers
        Substitute teachers, like all TDSB employees, can get an account enabling us to access computers at any TDSB school.  Here is what you do:


When the school computer asks you for your I.D. number, key in your 6 digit Employee I.D. number. (If necessary, you should put a zero in front of your five digit number to make 6 digits.)


        Where the computer demands your password, key in the last 4 digits of your Social Insurance Number, plus 2 digits for your date of birth, plus two digits for the month. For example, if you were born on January 1, you would key in "01", and then key in "01" again.


        The password is good for 42 days only. You will be warned on screen as to when the time will be up and when you must change your password.  Make sure your new password contains 8 characters.


        That's it, folks. If you need more information call 416-395-4357, and press for option 5 to speak to the tech person who is there to help you.  Happy e-days.

Employment Insurance

         Workers in Toronto applying for EI benefits for the first time, or after more than a year of making no claims, must have 910 hours of insured earnings to qualify. 


        But workers who had EI benefits during the past year and wish to extend the claim for another year of benefits must have 630 hours of insured employment.  A day of substitute teaching equals 7 hours, so 90 full days of substitute teaching is required to qualify for EI, for those with an on-going claim.


        EI benefits are calculated based on the last 26 weeks of insured earnings over the 52 weeks preceding a claim for benefits.  Benefits will equal 55% of the average of one’s earnings over the 26 weeks, up to a limit of $413 per week.


        The best time to apply is June, on the day that your substitute teaching stops.  The day you apply is when the two week EI waiting period begins.  The TDSB promises to mail your Record of Employment (ROE) to you in July.  Don’t wait for the ROE to apply for benefits.  But when it comes, take the ROE to the EI office.


“Professionally Speaking” Speaks out on “Retirees”
        The Ontario College of Teachers’ publication “Professionally Speaking”, which is mailed to 140,000 teachers, speaks out forcefully in its March 2005 edition on the issue of retired teachers who return to work as substitute teachers.


        In the Registrar’s Report, on page 10, Doug Wilson writes: “New teachers also find themselves passed over for occasional assignments, competing with retired members who can continue to teach for 95 days without penalty to their pensions.  It’s an accepted anomaly in the system.  Yet it creates a conundrum for new grads who have been hearing for some time that there’s a shortage of teachers.”


        On page 41 there appears an interview with Mary Anne Chambers, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, who states in reply to a question: “Even after licensing, some internationally trained teachers remain on a school supply list but do not get called, or do not obtain a permanent position in our school system.”


        If you would like to have your say on this issue, write to: The Editor, Professionally Speaking at    or to: 121 Bloor St. E., Toronto M4W 3M5.


The OTBU Newsletter ‘Spin’
        The March 2005 “Bargaining Unit Newsletter”, produced by Jennifer Mills and company, contains the usual array of errors of omission and commission.


        On page one, OSSTF president Rhonda Kimberley-Young reports that “a clear majority of our (Toronto OTBU) members voted in favour of job action if necessary to achieve our (bargaining) goals.”         She gives no strike vote figures.  No wonder.  34% voted NO.  Only 64% voted YES (with 2% spoiled).  This is the lowest strike mandate in Toronto OTBU history, and the lowest of any OSSTF, ETFO or CUPE strike vote in the current round of school board contract bargaining.


        Why did this happen?  Because many Toronto substitute teachers have no confidence in the self-appointed OTBU bargaining team and their self-selected, regressive contract demands.  34% voted NO confidence because we cannot afford a further erosion of our job security (the proposed ‘cap’ on the OT list is so high it would encourage Management to add hundreds more retirees to the OT list), and members have had no vote on the bargaining issues, or on the team of negotiators.


        Naturally, none of that is mentioned.  Why sully the Pollyannaish prose?


        Next comes the OTBU President’s “Letter”.  Jennifer Mills announces that the OTBU Annual General Meeting will take place on Thursday, April 28, 4:30 p.m. at La Pentola Restaurant, near 60 Mobile Drive.   Once again, the location of the meeting favours the car-owning retirees, and displays the now familiar disregard for the less affluent OTBU members who rely on slow TTC buses to get to the site – a non-school, isolated venue on Eglinton Ave., east of the Don Valley Expressway.


        But what really takes the cake is this.  While Jennifer writes that “a number of constitutional issues ... will be up for discussion at this (AGM)”, she neglects to publish any of the motions, or to indicate what they contain.  If she fails to provide members with the actual amendments and rationale (which the Action Caucus submitted to the executive in December), at least 15 school days (three calendar weeks) prior to April 28, Jennifer and company will be in violation of the local constitution, once again.  (Once again, in the sense that the General Meeting should have been scheduled for mid-April; that’s 30 schools days after the latest members’ petition demanding a General Meeting was submitted on February 23.  But why quibble over two weeks?)


        Moving on.  Jennifer refers to “our highly successful P.D. Day” on February 11.  In an article on page 4, she claims that “around 40 ... attended”, although “we were prepared for about 100".  But the truth is much sadder than Jennifer admits.  Actually, less than 20 OTBU members attended, more than half of whom were retirees.  Most of the rest were supporters of the Action Caucus who reminded the meeting that P.D. Day used to be a school board fully-paid activity that attracted nearly 200 members annually – until the crew now in control of the OTBU gave away the paid P.D. benefit in 2003.


The Great ‘Double Dipping’ Debate
A Letter to the Editor of the Toronto Star, published on March 2, 2005, “Retired teachers are double-dipping”, sparked three days of debate on Canada’s most widely read daily newspaper op ed page.  The following letter, “Not Enough Work for all substitute teachers”, sent on March 3 as a response to others, was not published, but it is provided here for your information.

Dear Editor,
        Re: Enough jobs for all teachers, Letter, March 3:
        Murray Rayner simply asserts that "there is often work enough for both retired and substitute teachers." But consider the facts.
        According to Toronto District School Board statistics, in the secondary schools there are about 200 to 500 teacher absences daily that need to be filled by qualified substitute teachers.  There are over 1600 teachers on the Secondary Occasional Teachers' List, over half of whom are retirees.
        Retirees are "chosen over (regular) substitutes" not only due to merit, but also because of inside connections and old school loyalties.
        When there is not enough work for everyone on the List, which is virtually all of the time, retirees can double dip, and other substitutes, who have no pension or other income, must simply do without.
        Greed is not illegal. But it is immoral. It should not be rewarded. Double dipping within a given profession should be banned.
Yours sincerely,
Barry Weisleder, President 1984 - 2002, Toronto Substitute Teachers

Next Action Caucus Meeting

        Please join us for the next Toronto Substitute Teachers’ Action Caucus meeting to be held on Thursday, April 7, 4:30 p.m., at OISE room 2-212, located at 252 Bloor Street West (St. George subway station).
        There will be information on Employment Insurance, “preferred” OT school lists, summer renewal, plans for the AGM, as well as nutritious food and refreshments.  Please call 416 - 588-9090 to let us know you are planning to attend.


Get Involved in your Future
Together we can restore Job Security, Decent Wages, Local Autonomy and Union Democracy.  Join the Toronto Substitute Teachers’ Action Caucus.  Attend our monthly meetings. 

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Contact Us: Hotline: 416 - 588 - 9090 | email: Substitute Teachers' Action Caucus