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The Times Advocate, 2008-10-08, Page 3Wednesday, October 8, 2008 Times–Advocate 3 Union has "no intention of returning to the table" Stew Slater SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE HURON -PERTH — Despite obvious strife between Ontario's Education Ministry and the union representing the province's public elemen- tary school teachers, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has no deadline for launching labour action. But the union says it will take the removal of an "artificial" Ministry -imposed deadline before negotiators return to the table to iron out differ- ences. "We have no intention of returning to the table," proclaimed ETFO provincial president David Clegg, in advance of a planned visit to the Mitchell Golf and Country Club Oct. 7. "The province has imposed what, in their mind, is a deadline of Nov. 30 for school boards to agree on collective agree- ments with their ETFO locals. But we don't nego- tiate under artificial ultimatums." Last June, facing the province -wide expiration of four-year collective agreements Aug. 31, Clegg walked out of so-called "tripartite" talks between ETFO, the province, and the provincial lobby group for public school boards, the Ontario Public School Boards Association (OPSBA). The talks had been modeled on negotiations set up under former Education Minister (and now federal Liberal insid- er) Gerard Kennedy four years ago. "At that time, Minister Kennedy was very hands- on with the negotiations, telling us what he expected to see and where we needed to have dis- cussion," Clegg recalled. "And we worked very hard to resolve those issues." The ETFO president described the resulting "provincial framework" as "historic." But last spring, he says, without direct political influence, efforts to renew the framework stalled due to the Education Ministry's refusal to discuss bringing elementary school pay rates in line with those of secondary school teachers. "We've got a premier who prides himself on fighting at the federal level for transfer payments so that Ontario will get equal treatment, yet his government is unwilling to talk about elementary teachers getting equal treatment with their secondary peers," Clegg said. He also accused OPSBA rep- resentatives with aiming to turn back the clock on the issues of benefits packages and non -class supervision. "From (ETFO's) perspective, what they were suggesting is that we revisit issues that had already been resolved in previous agreements." These two issues are complicated, he admits, by the acceptance of similar provisions by the union representing Ontario's Catholic elementary teach- ers. A provincial framework is, as a result, already in place as a template for negotiations between Catholic school boards and their elemen- tary teachers. "They are free to agree to whatever they believe is in the best interests of their membership," Clegg said. But he admitted it "undermines our members' ability to maintain what we have achieved in previous collective agreements." In an effort to explain his provincial union's position, Clegg has embarked on a province -wide tour to speak with union stewards from every public elementary school in the province. Interviewed before his Mitchell visit, he said it's possible some proactive school boards may work to resolve the supervision and benefits issues on a local level, despite the lack of a provincial framework. But he said it's unlikely any col- lective agreements will be signed without the province reconsidering the disparity in per -pupil funding between elementary and secondary schools. "There was a $711 per stu- dent difference last year," he explained. Effects of that dis- parity, he argues, include larger class sizes, lack of teaching resources, and the absence of specialized teachers from elementary environments. "We have many elementary schools that don't have teacher -librarians on a full time basis," he explained. "There are virtually no guidance coun- selors in elementary schools in Ontario." On a local level, representatives from the Avon Maitland District School Board and its ETFO local were scheduled to have their first official meeting Friday, Oct. 10. According to local president Merlin Leis, talks are "in the very preliminary stages," but five meeting dates have been sched- uled between now and the end of November. Leis said "it's very unlikely we'll reach a settle- ment without a provincial framework." At the Mitchell meeting, Clegg was to present a $500 cheque to the Optimism Place women's shel- ter in Stratford. ETFO has a long-established posi- tion as a supporter of women's shelters, on both the local and provincial levels. We've got a premier who prides himself on fighting at the federal level for transfer payments so that Ontario will get equal treatment, yet his government is unwilling to talk about elementary teachers getting equal treatment with their secondary peers," DAVID CLEGG ETFO PROVINCIAL PRESIDENT Thank you for bringing a smile to our community. Bannockburn Fall Hike Nature lovers headed outside Sunday after- noon for the 35th annual Bannockburn Fall Hike at the Bannockburn Conservation Area outside ofVarna.Above from left, Sophie and Emma Blouin of St. Catharines and Brodie and Logan Cairns of Seaforth enjoy a rest by the water,. (photo/Scott Nixon) Bridges to Better Business Workshop series October 16 October 23 October 30 Guerrilla Marketing in a Virtual Jungle A Professional Panel of Experts "Bank" is NOT a Four Letter Word Visit our website for details, time and location www. smallbusinesshuron. ca Pre -register, please 519.527.0305 Sponsored by the County of Huron, the Ministry of Small Business & Consumer Services and the Canada -Ontario Business Service Centre BEC HURON Yes, the Smile Cookies are gone. But the smiles will last forever. Thanks to you, we raised over $1200 to be donated to the South Huron Hospital Association. Tc01ldo2tows TO ogether WithYou, Making Good Things Happen. See your favourite flyers, coupons & deals online. • er and.ca • • Save time, save money. HENRY% The BRICK, fe` >t0fr1115: TOYS9 Home Ina*TIGER4' eKaI wao.* 1eJIel's FooDIJVND L.oblaws N FUTURE SHOP BADBOY souRcEM,CIaeJSS Se irs F.E=M IM /obey/ SHOPPERS 1�LYr4' n i; a SHLEY PR_ PILE'