Would you vote... to reduce your own
work and income? ...to freeze your wage to the bottom of the
contract teachersí pay grid? ...to give a Strike Mandate
to a non-elected Bargaining Team that denied you a say in
setting contract demands? NO
way!
At the Toronto secondary Occasional Teachersí Bargaining
Unit PD work shop on February 11, self-appointed negotiator
Liz Barkley informed the less than twenty members in attendance
that there will be an OTBU Meeting and Strike Vote held on
Wednesday, February 23, 4:30 p.m. at 4 Credit Union Drive
(in the Latvian Hall, near the OSSTF head office, just south
of Eglinton Avenue, east of the Don Valley Expressway). Jennifer
Millsí OTBU newsletter conveys the same information.
First of all, isn't it amazing that the people who seized
control of the Toronto OTBU in 2003 have decided to hold the
strike vote at a membership meeting? This comes after OSSTF
held the 2004 Executive election and the last contract ratification
vote by means of a mail-in ballot. Liz and company long insisted
that a mail-in ballot is the only way to conduct an important
vote so that all members have an equal opportunity to participate.
Is a strike vote suddenly less important than a contract ratification
vote or an executive election? If not, then why the change
in method?
The answer seems obvious: itís all about their convenience.
They want a quick, cheap strike vote, to put the OTBU in line
with the rest of OSSTF, and they figure few would disagree.
Also, by holding the meeting at an inconvenient location,
the more affluent members with cars, and with fewer after-school
responsibilities, are likely to dominate the attendance and
dictate the results -- as occurred at the December 7 General
Meeting.
Secondly, and more importantly, there is the question of whether
to vote YES or NO.
As the OTBU newsletter emphasizes, this is essentially a vote
of confidence in the Toronto OTBU bargaining team. So, it
is only fair to ask:
How can OTBU members have confidence in a bargaining team
that was not elected, and which was appointed by a very twisted
process which excluded the in-put and direct participation
of most members?
How can OTBU members give support to a team which is advancing
contract demands which go directly contrary to our interests
as workers?
The non-elected team is asking the TDSB to implement a 'cap'
on the OT list that would permit Management to increase the
number of names on the list from the present 1600 up to nearly
1900 names. TDSB statistics show that there are only about
200 to 500 jobs per day -- at the best of times. So, with
an expanding list, the flood of retirees would continue, and
work opportunities for the rest of us would be certain to
shrink.
The non-elected bargaining team is also seeking a wage increase
of only $1.66. Worse, they want to fix OT pay permanently
to Step Zero, the very bottom of the contract teachers' pay
grid. So, we'd get the percentage increases accepted by the
contract teachers in future, but we would never again be able
to negotiate our own wage rate and never be able to gain wage
compensation for our accumulated daily teaching experience.
(If accomplished, this stifling feature would be held up by
those now in control as another reason to dissolve the OTBU
into the STBU.)
The Action Caucus is strongly pro-union. Pro-union members
don't like to urge a NO vote when a strike mandate is on the
ballot. But in a profoundly undemocratic union, where non-elected
negotiators are seeking changes that would reduce work and
wages for OTs who have no pension income, and that would remove
wage bargaining from our contract table forever, what are
we to do?
We say: Vote NO
Toronto substitute teachers were deprived of the right to
elect the OTBU bargaining team last Fall. We were denied the
right to vote on our own contract demands. Now is the only
opportunity to have our say.
Defend the right to work. Demand a decent wage improvement.
Uphold our autonomy in bargaining. Act now to restore leadership
accountability, transparency, and local democracy in the Toronto
OTBU.
Please attend and vote NO on February 23.
Ask the non-elected negotiators to step aside so that the
membership can re-start the bargaining process on a democratic
basis.
For more info, call the Substitute Teachersí Action
Caucus Help Line at 416 - 588-9090.
Visit our web site at: www.angelfire.com/un/torontosubstitutes