Talking About Local Bargaining
Voice in conversation with chief negotiators Shelly Jan, Elizabeth Kettle and Diego Olmedo.
Collective Bargaining
2019 Collective Bargaining
ETFO has a long history of advocating for and negotiating significant improvements to educator working conditions and student learning conditions. There’s no doubt that our collective efforts have helped make Ontario’s public education system one of the best in the world.
Bill 115 Victory
In April, ETFO and other education unions won a major victory at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The court found that the Ontario government’s Bill 115, imposed in the fall of 2012, was a violation of the collective bargaining rights of education unions.
Your Federation
ETFO leaders met in October for the fall Representative Council meeting. At this, the first of three meetings held every year, the council elects members to sit on the Council Steering Committee, the Selection Committee for Standing Committees and the Budget Committee.
Bargaining for Better Schools
I’d like to start by thanking you. It’s been a long and stressful 14 months of central bargaining for members.
Moving Forward
ETFO leaders and staff have worked hard to secure collective agreements for all 78,000 members. Through it all ETFO members have stood together. Thank you.
“I Stand with My Union”
Participation in political rallies gives ETFO members an important opportunity to support their union’s bargaining position; it gives them a public voice on how contract provisions directly affect classroom working and learning conditions. ETFO members find themselves once again compelled to protest the government and employer stance at the bargaining table.
Working-To-Rule
In September 2014, ETFO began central table discussions with the government and the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA) to negotiate renewed collective agreements for our teacher and occasional teacher members.
Annual Meeting 2015
A sense of purpose was in the air as over 800 public elementary school teachers and other education professionals gathered for the ETFO 2015 Annual Meeting at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto from August 17 to 20.
Uncertainty and New Beginnings
On Friday, September 11, after just seven days of bargaining, the Ontario Public School Boards Association and government negotiators told the mediator facilitating our discussions they “were done” and wouldn’t negotiate further with ETFO. In effect, they walked away from the table.