Building a Union for All

ETFO’s Annual Meeting is an opportunity for educators from around Ontario to come together and set the union’s priorities for the upcoming year. For four days, educators receive financial reports, engage in debate and vote on policies pertaining to bargaining, equity and social justice goals. Every two years, we elect our governing body, the ETFO provincial Executive. The process is intense but fascinating, and I’ve been proud to be a delegate for the Elementary Teachers of Toronto for the past three years.

Annual Meeting is revealing, informative, overwhelming, powerful and profound. This year was no exception. In fact, it was one of – if not the most – challenging Annual Meetings for me and many Black delegates.

As a Black woman educator in inner-city Toronto, advocating for the human rights of communities like mine is central to what I do. This year, an important motion (AMR 69) was brought to the floor by the Human Rights Committee and Representative Council. The motion called for a recommitment to ETFO’s work on anti-Black racism; to both celebration and accountability. It called on ETFO to honour Black joy while also addressing the intersecting barriers Black members face in professional learning, leadership pathways and union participation. It further strengthened this work by calling on ETFO to establish dedicated leadership roles and by requiring regular review of our union’s anti-Black racism strategy.

Requests to change the orders of the day to bring this motion to the floor were voted down, not once, not twice, but three times. For many of those trying and failing to bring this important motion forward, the feeling was that the Annual Meeting delegation – and by extension our union representing 84,000 educators across Ontario – didn’t believe anti-Black racism was a priority.

And so, we, Black delegates and allies, walked out.

Moments like this massive walkout remind us that progress toward equity is not defined by motions alone but by the work that follows (and the work that comes before): how we respond to the voices of Black members, how we support leadership development and how we sustain the work of addressing anti-Black racism over time.

As we know, schools do not exist outside of society. The same anti-Black racism that shapes policing, housing and employment also shapes classrooms, staff rooms, unions, community organizations – the list goes on.

Anti-Black racism in public education is systemic; it does not exist as isolated incidents. It shows up in forced streaming, unjust disciplinary practices, misguided special education placements and curriculum. It’s there in microaggressions, in questions about credentials and in biases around what leadership looks like.

Addressing anti-Black racism requires institutional responsibility, not just individual goodwill or a few professional learning opportunities. Institutions like our union need to ensure that we are moving forward, addressing barriers and creating opportunities for Black leadership at all levels. Motions like AMR 69 matter because they recognize anti-Black racism as a part of a system, though we know individuals are responsible for and benefit from maintaining and operating that system.

The motion was robust and far-reaching in its scope. It sought for connections to be made between educators, our union and anti-Black racism as it relates and responds to global contexts, such as the United Nation’s Second International Decade for People of African Descent.

As a union, ETFO shapes who has access to leadership, whose voices are amplified, how professional learning is designed, and how equity commitments are resourced and maintained. If unions call for equity in schools, as ETFO does, they must also model it internally. Anti-Black racism cannot be addressed solely through advocacy; it must also be operationalized within our organizations and reflected at our decision-making tables.

While it is unfortunate that calls for action on anti-Black racism came to such a head at last summer’s Annual Meeting, important steps have been taken by the ETFO provincial office and many ETFO locals in response to demands from delegates, Black members and allies.

In accordance with AMR 69, last fall ETFO created a new position for an executive assistant who self-identifies as Black, to develop and implement the ETFO anti-Black racism strategy and portfolio. New funding has been allocated to create programs for Black members, specifically ones that facilitate and support pathways to leadership. Delegates to the Annual Meeting also added funding to a budget line for anti-racist initiatives to support locals. This assistance is being granted in the form of local incentive funding.

ETFO staff developed five new programs this year, the first of which was held in January 2026. Four of the five were created specifically to support Black members: CODE Black Part 2, Leadership Forum for Black Women Part 2, Protecting Your Peace (WP) and a mentorship program for Black members called Mapping the Way. A fifth program, The Nuts ‘n’ Bolts of Addressing Anti-Black Racism, was created to support local leaders and members of local executives who want to disrupt anti-Black racism within their local or to organize a community event on issues that are affecting education and the Black community.

At the fall Representative Council meeting, local leaders participated in discussion groups that asked them to reflect on the work that is happening in locals to combat anti- Black racism and what else needs to be done. While a number of locals have made good progress, creating learning opportunities for members; collecting self-identification data; conducting local equity audits; creating affinity spaces, mentor coaching opportunities and designated seats on their executives; and holding focus groups and round table discussions with Black members to explore ways to support engagement, it was also clear that locals need to do more work and need more support.

As ETFO continues to take steps to address anti-Black racism, the anti-Black racism strategy needs to be informed by the themes of the UN’s second International Decade for People of African Descent: recognition, justice and development.

The UN called for institutions to commit to a second decade to advance the recognition of Black histories, identities and contributions. It called for a commitment to justice by addressing systemic barriers and harms. This second decade called for the development of pathways to leadership, opportunity and well-being.

As duty holders, unions bear an obligation to address discrimination and harassment in education systems and to confront these issues within their own structures. For ETFO, this means continuing to take transformative steps within our own organization to ensure that Black members are supported, represented and protected from racism and exclusion. The Federation’s commitment to the Second International Decade requires more than symbolism; it must include measurable action that positively impacts children’s lives and educators’ careers.

It’s important to highlight that celebration and joy were essential to AMR 69, as these are acts of resistance. Anti-Black racism work is often framed through deficit-thinking and harm. As Black people, we’ve endured and continue to endure harm in ways that make it obvious that we shouldn’t still be here. Those of us who are the descendants of the transatlantic slave trade should not exist. Our family units were destroyed and our connections to language, land, culture, religion and much more were stolen. Our foundations were destroyed.

Yet, through and despite this loss, we created new families, on new lands and we are still here. Remnants of our ancestral languages, cultural and religious practices remained and transformed into diasporic cultures. We are living miracles and that must be recognized. Celebrating Black achievement, leadership and joy counters narratives of scarcity, affirms belonging and sustains people doing the work. Joy must never be thought of as a distraction from justice; it is part of how communities survive and thrive.

Going forward, it’s imperative that commitments to Anti-Black racism work be resourced, not just affirmed. Leadership pathways must be intentional, not assumed. Equity strategies must be reviewed, revised and renewed, not archived. And perhaps most critically, Black members must be partners in shaping this work, not recipients of it. The question is no longer whether to act, but rather how deeply ETFO and its members are willing to reflect on and acknowledge the gaps in order to embrace and enact meaningful change for all.

The call to action from Black members at ETFO’s Annual Meeting was not a call for recognition – it was for accountability. It was a reminder that addressing anti-Black racism requires open hearts and minds as well as structural change, long-term commitment and a willingness to redistribute power within our schools, communities and our union.

Real harm was experienced and naming and rectifying that harm through tangible action is necessary to restoring dignity and trust. Fortunately, steps have been taken to right these wrongs – one being this opportunity to share our truths. ETFO provincial and ETFO locals have begun to have the courageous conversations and to take the actions necessary to move forward, but there is also much to be done so all members can engage in meaningful anti-Black racism work.

Democracy was in action at the 2025 Annual Meeting. Democratic process was followed and the voting body made their choice. But democracy, like the humans who are meant to uphold it, is a work-in-progress. Annual meeting shone a spotlight on some of the internal work we as educators must confront as individuals and as a collective in order to meet the needs of all members so that we can move forward together, in a positive way.

The adoption of AMR 69 means enshrining the voices, perspectives and lived experiences of Black members in our history and ensuring Black members sit at the tables that shape the decisions that impact us all. Without our input, at all levels of decision0making and leadership, it is impossible to be the union ETFO prides itself on being.

Tamla Young is a member of the Elementary Teachers of Toronto Local.

AMR 69

THAT in recognition of the Second International Decade for People of African Descent, ETFO’s work on anti-Black racism include:

• The celebration of Black excellence and joy.
• A recognition of the additional impact of the intersectional identities of Black members within professional learning and training activities.
• A study of how the participation of Black members is additionally impacted by intersectional identities and take action to address barriers
• Support to locals to create action plans to increase the representation of Black members within local leadership.
• A commitment to expanding the Black narrative to include the diverse experiences of individuals.
• Discover, monitor and address the barriers related to the intersectional identity of Black members.
• A new position starting September 2025 for an executive assistant who self-identifies as Black, to develop and implement the ETFO anti-Black racism strategy and portfolio.
• Ensure the effectiveness of ETFO’s anti-Black racism strategy by reassessing, revising and renewing the strategy on a regular basis.