Staples Can’t Replace Support: What Our Schools Actually Need

As we embark on a new school year, I want to begin by saying thank you. Your dedication, collaboration and unwavering commitment to your students, your colleagues and the future of public education form the bedrock of our union.

I see how hard you work for your students every day and I know you are the reason Ontario public schools are still some of the very best in the world, despite years of underfunding. But teachers and other educators should not be forced to hold our schools together while the government continues to cut resources, investments and support. We know these cuts affect already marginalized communities more deeply, which makes your efforts and our fight for meaningful investment in our schools and students even more important.

Despite unprecedented challenges, your provincial bargaining team came to the table in good faith for summer collective bargaining dates. Unfortunately, bargaining reached an impasse as the government attempted another power grab to strip local school boards and communities of their autonomy and move more local issues to central bargaining. Items on which there was disagreement were referred to the Ontario Labour Relations Board for a decision. ETFO offered to continue negotiating on undisputed central matters (like wages and class sizes) while awaiting the OLRB ruling, but the government rejected that offer.

The Ford government’s playbook is clear: privatization, centralization and the systematic erosion of public services. They seek to strip power from local bargaining, silence community voices and consolidate control at Queen's Park. Instead of investing in the resources and supports students and educators need, they directed teachers to an online portal to order from Staples, a company owned by an American private equity firm called Sycamore Partners that is well-known for aggressive cost-cutting, workplace and labour violations, and mass layoffs. The Ford government’s alliances and priorities could not be more clear.

Bargaining with an aggressive, privatization-focused government means that progressive alliances are more important than ever. Over the past year, ETFO and our affiliates formed the Education Union Collective Bargaining Steering Committee. Together, we served notice to bargain, launched public campaigns, canvassed neighbourhoods, produced powerful materials, held joint press conferences and participated in provincewide days of action. We have also planned regional rallies on October 24 and hope you will attend one of these events. ETFO will join education workers across the province in London, Ottawa, Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Toronto. Together we will have 275,000 members showing strength and solidarity.

When negotiations resume, we fully expect the government to return with the same destructive agenda; one that disrespects educators and treats students as collateral damage. But ETFO remains focused on what matters. We are ready for tough negotiations. Ready with a strategy that protects our members, our students and every community we serve.

We will continue to communicate clearly, consistently and comprehensively with members, families, media and the public. We will keep sounding the alarm and challenging the Ford government’s narratives. I ask that you do the same. Talk to your family, your neighbours and the parents of students in your community. It is essential that everyone understands the impacts of $6.5 billion in cuts on our public schools, and nobody is more trusted by parents and communities than teachers and educators.

Your participation is central to building our momentum and bargaining power. As we begin this new school year, we are ready to do the very best for students. We must also be ready to organize and build support for our public schools. If the last round of bargaining taught us anything, it is that parents and other community members will stand with us in this important fight.

I am honoured and proud to be your president. Let’s move forward, together, because public education truly changes everything for the better.

– David Mastin