The Citizen, 2005-06-09, Page 21THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2005. PAGE 21.
As of Tuesday, no agreement reached with ETFO
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
Labour peace has been maintained
in three of the four main teachers
union locals in Huron and Perth
Counties.
But already-existing hostilities in
the other — the Avon Maitland local
of the Elementary Teachers
Federation of Ontario (ETFO) —
escalated further with the passage of
a crucial government-imposed
deadline June 1.
“We do regret this but we believe
it has to happen,” said ETFO local
president Brian Doubleday, after
talks broke off between his union
and the Avon Maitland District
School Board. The so-called “Phase
3” of ETFO’s work-to-rule
subsequently went into effect,
thereby eliminating such activities
as assemblies, end-of-school play
days, field trips- and graduation
ceremonies.
Plus, perhaps on a more damaging
note, Avon Maitland joined just
eight other boards across Ontario on
Education Minister Gerard
Kennedy’s suspension list for
proposed funding for specialty and
special education teachers.
As of June 1. over 90 of the
province’s approximately 130
school boards had reached deals
with their elementary teachers. That
included the Huron-Perth Catholic
District School Board, which
reached a tentative deal with both its
elementary and secondary teachers
just before the deadline. (The Avon
Maitland board announced a
tentative agreement with its
secondary teachers on June 3.)
Kennedy, who earlier suggested
the specialty teacher money would
be used as an inducement for boards
to sign collective agreements,
announced he believed 22 other
boards were close to a deal and
would be granted “extensions.” (The
Toronto District School Board was
among them and, indeed, it
announced a deal with its
elementary teachers on June 2.)
The Avon Maitland board and
eight others, however, were told they
won’t receive the money. In the
Avon Maitland case, talks broke off
following a May 31 meeting by
trustees to discuss a late-breaking
ETFO offer, with the only
subsequent communication coming
in the form of examining the
calendar for the next suitable
negotiation date.
That happened quickly, however,
with both sides clearing their
schedule on Monday, June 6 to
resume negotiations.
In an interview on June 3, board
chair Meg Westley said she believes
Kennedy will stick with his decision
not to extend funds to the nine
boards, but only if there’s no quick
resumption of talks. She expressed
optimism the Avon Maitland sides
will reconvene soon, and there’s still
a good chance the ministerial
suspension will be called off.
“My impression is that, if we can
get back to the table and show we’re
moving towards an agreement, and
particularly if the work-to-rule is
lifted, then the suspension will be
lifted,” she said.
Doubleday echoed the optimism
that a deal could be Teached. The
outstanding issue is so-called “grid
parity” with the board’s secondary
teachers. This refers to the timetable
under which salary increases are
phased in over the length of a
contract, for teachers with differing
levels of experience.
According to Doubleday, only the
most experienced of Avon Maitland
elementary teachers see their salary
increases implemented under the
same timetable as their secondary
counterparts, and ETFO wants that
changed.
“Our argument is. a teacher is a
teacher,” he said.
The union local president blamed
trustees for rejecting a grid parity
deal which Avon Maitland human
resources officials “seemed open to”
at the negotiating table. He
described the proposed deal as a
willingness by teachers to give up
some professional development
opportunities in exchange for
putting that money towards phasing
in grid parity over the four years of
the collective agreement.
“You may argue why would we
pay money to get paid more, but at
the bargaining table we’ve decided
to take that approach,” Doubleday
said. “I believe (Avon Maitland
negotiators) appreciated the gesture.
But the trustees . . . turned it down.”
Funding commitments from the
provincial government had enabled
boards across the province to settle
such issues as salary increases and
preparation time, convincing ETFO
locals to call off Phase 2 of their
work-to-rule campaigns in late
March.
But in the Avon Maitland case,
grid parity was obviously enough to
scuttle a possible deal, cause
Minister Kennedy to put the board
on its suspension list, and lead to a
heightened work-to-rule that now
has teachers arriving at the schools
no earlier than 15 minutes prior to
the commencement of classes,
taking part in no extra-curricular
activities, and leaving no later than
15 minutes after classes conclude.
According to Doubleday, if Phase
3 continues for “a prolonged time”
— what he describes as two weeks
after the. June 1 work-to-rule
resumption — there will be “drastic
changes in report cards.
“June is a very hectic month in the
education system,” the union local
president said. “There are a lot of
things that go on that probably won’t
go on.”
Westley, however, disagreed with
Doubleday’s description of the late-
breaking negotiations and
subsequent rejection of the ETFO
offer.
"Something was put on the table
by ETFO and the negotiating team
said they would run it by trustees.
That’s how negotiations take place,”
the board chair said. “But there was
never an agreement because it was
not something that (board
negotiators) could agree to without
consulting trustees.”
She said provincial funding
commitments weren’t meant to
tackle grid parity, meaning that, even
with the ETFO concessions, the
board would have to cut money from
somewhere else in the budget to pay
for it.
“We gave ETFO everything the
ministry has given us,” the board
chair said.
“We could harmonize the grid but
it could force us to cut some very
important programs and we don’t
want to have to do that.”
She noted the disparity in salary
increase timetables stems from the
fact that, over the past several years,
secondary teacher negotiators have
put a priority on maintaining their
“grid,” while ETFO negotiators have
concentrated on other issues.
“The grid was always a priority
for (secondary school teachers) and
they were willing to give in other
areas to get that,” Westley said.
Treasure?
It was yard sale day on
Saturday for Trinity Anglican
Church in Blyth. Julia Tyler
takes some time to look
through some books. (Vicky
Bremner photo)
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