My Letter to Mr. Frank Klees (Ont. PC MPP, Newmarket--Aurora) -- by Anne Shier

Here is the letter I sent to Mr. Frank Klees, Ontario PC MPP for Newmarket--Aurora. I wanted to thank him for his reply to my letter that I'd sent him earlier this month and to express OSSTF's reasons for not being willing to accept the agreement reached between OECTA (the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association) and the Liberal government.

Monday October 29, 2012

Mr. Frank Klees

Ontario PC MPP, Newmarket—Aurora

Suite 201, Hunters Gate Plaza, 14845 Yonge Street

Aurora, Ontario L4G 6H8

Re:  Protest against Bill 115

To Mr. Frank Klees:

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my letter of October 9, 2012 regarding Bill 115.  I’d also like to thank you for expressing your appreciation of my dedication to my profession.  I take my teaching very seriously and would appreciate it if non-teachers would appreciate what we have to offer our students.

OSSTF and its members are well aware of the agreement reached between OECTA (the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association) and the government, but, as OSSTF (the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation), our own federation, has pointed out, this agreement was not satisfactory to us.  In fact, months before this, OSSTF proposed hundreds of millions of dollars in cost cuts to the government, but these cuts were not given any consideration and were rejected outright.  It makes me think that the government had every intention of passing Bill 115 even before negotiations could get underway with OSSTF.

While a wage freeze over a two-year period might seem like a good idea to both the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives, it might have been more acceptable if it had been applied across the entire public sector, not just educational workers.  You’ve made it clear in your letter that the Progressive Conservatives supported this part of Bill 115 regarding educational workers’ wages.  Nevertheless, we are accepting this wage freeze, as unfair as it is.  What we really think is unfair is the removal of our right to collectively bargain our teacher contracts.

I’d like to quote an excerpt from the OSSTF magazine called “Education Forum”.  The source article is called “Workers’ Rights at Risk”, by Gary Fenn.  Here is the excerpt:  “Bill 115 has very little to do with putting students first [despite its name] and has everything to do with making the educational workers of Ontario pay for a recession they did not cause.  It is about making educational workers pay for the cuts to corporate taxes that have not stimulated the economy.  And now, it is about taking away the constitutionally protected right to free collective bargaining……McGuinty won the support of Progressive Conservative MPPs and their leader, Tim Hudak, to pass this legislation.  The Premier has mused about going after other public-sector workers in Ontario, including doctors, nurses and firefighters.  One can conclude that if McGuinty and Hudak can do this to educational workers, they can do it to any worker.  All workers should be very afraid of this precedent.”

We want you and the PC Party to know that we, as teachers, are intent on fighting for our bargaining rights as long as we need to in order to make our point and further our cause.  To this end, we have conducted a few peaceful demonstrations in front of various MPPs’ offices in Scarborough and elsewhere in the GTA and we will continue to do so into the future.

I’d like to thank you, Mr. Klees, again for taking the time to reply to my letter.  I appreciate the PC Party’s support of Bill 115 for the purpose of “getting the province’s fiscal house in order”, as quoted from your letter.  However, the method that the government has chosen to achieve this objective is not anywhere near acceptable to OSSTF and its members.  We have to fight this law because of its potential drastic effects on other public-sector groups in Ontario and to protect our own rights to do what OSSTF has been doing so well over the last several years – negotiating a collective agreement that works for its members and yet, fulfills the government’s requirements.

Yours truly,

"Shirley Underfire"
Teacher, TDSB

My Letter to Ms. Cheri DiNovo (Ont. NDP MPP, Parkdale--High Park) -- by Anne Shier

Here is the letter I sent to Ms. Cheri DiNovo, Ontario NDP MPP for Parkdale--High Park in reply to the letter she'd sent me earlier this month.  I wanted to express my personal (and our collective) appreciation for her party's support of Ontario's public secondary school teachers since the passage of Bill 115.

Friday October 26, 2012

Ms. Cheri DiNovo

Ontario NDP MPP, Parkdale—High Park

2849 Dundas Street West

Toronto, Ontario M6P 1Y6

Re:  Protest against Bill 115

Dear Ms. Cheri DiNovo:

I would like to thank you very much for expressing your support for Ontario teachers on behalf of the NDP Party due to the drastic effect that Bill 115 is having on us.  We very much want to let the public know how we feel, particularly about losing our right to bargain our collective agreements with our local school board.  So, we are happy that you are supporting our cause.  We need all the help we can get right now.

I believe that the public thinks that teachers just want more money and more benefits; they seem convinced that we already have a great setup as teachers.  Every time someone who’s not a teacher says this kind of thing to me, I feel that I have no choice but to tell them that everyone thinks these things until they become a teacher.  And, if they think it’s so great to be a teacher, why don’t they do it?  I’ve never gotten an affirmative answer to this, however, which I think is due to the public’s inherent lack of knowledge of all of the ramifications that teaching involves.  We are accountable to so many entities:  our students (first and foremost), our kids’ parents, our school principal, the school, the school board and the community as a whole.  I think teaching is an awesome profession and I am very happy to have been a teacher for the last 12 and half years.  But, who knows what may happen to this wonderful profession now?

I’d like to quote an excerpt from the OSSTF magazine called “Education Forum”.  The source article is called “Workers’ Rights at Risk”, by Gary Fenn.  Here is the excerpt:  “Bill 115 has very little to do with putting students first [despite its name] and has everything to do with making the educational workers of Ontario pay for a recession they did not cause.  It is about making educational workers pay for the cuts to corporate taxes that have not stimulated the economy.  And now, it is about taking away the constitutionally protected right to free collective bargaining……McGuinty won the support of Progressive Conservative MPPs and their leader, Tim Hudak, to pass this legislation.  The Premier has mused about going after other public-sector workers in Ontario, including doctors, nurses and firefighters.  One can conclude that if McGuinty and Hudak can do this to educational workers, they can do it to any worker.  All workers should be very afraid of this precedent.”

We want you and the NDP to know that we are intent on fighting for our bargaining rights as long as we need to in order to make our point and further our cause.  We have conducted a few peaceful demonstrations in front of various MPPs’ offices in Scarborough and elsewhere in the GTA and we will continue to do so into the future.

I’d like to thank you, Ms. DiNovo, again for your and your party’s support of our cause.  You have a good handle on the government’s real intentions and approach to this economic situation and you know that it cannot lead, ultimately, to anything good down the road for Ontario’s public-sector workers.  This is the important message that we ourselves would like to convey to the public.  It’s all about the government’s attacks on the collective bargaining process, what their agenda really is about and what they hope to achieve by implementing Bill 115.

Yours truly,

"Shirley Underfire"

What is in Bill 115? (the "Putting Students First Act", a.k.a. "the Act", published by OSSTF) -- by Anne Shier

An Act to implement restraint measures in the education sector:  Why this law is harmful to teachers, educational support staff, school boards and all workers in Ontario

Bill 115:

A)  Removes the right to collective bargaining

Federations that represent publicly funded teachers and educational support staff have always bargained collective agreements with their local school board, which is the legal employer.  This Act takes away virtually all ability for local school boards and their educational employees to bargain a collective agreement that works for students, local communities and for workers.  The Act allows the Minister of Education to impose conditions upon both parties.  In effect, the Ontario Government is acting as the employer and has overridden the bargaining process as laid out in the Ontario Labour Relations Act.

B)  Removes power and responsibility from democratically elected local school board trustees

School board trustees are elected by the people and charged with the responsibility of running local schools.  Among their responsibilities is to accept or reject collective agreements negotiated with education federations.  This Act removes that power from these democratically elected trustees and gives it solely to the Minister of Education.

C)  Broad and sweeping power is given to the Minister of Education

Under this Act, the Minister of Education has the absolute authority to accept or reject any collective agreement signed between education workers and a local school board.  The decision to accept or reject a collective agreement does NOT need to be brought before the democratically elected Ontario Legislature for review, thus it is not subject to any public accountability.  Previously, this level of public accountability used to rest with locally elected school board trustees.  In addition, the Act states that there is no obligation for the Minister to consult the public or hold any hearings regarding any decision he/she may make related to any imposed collective agreement.

D)  Restrictions and deadlines are now unilaterally imposed by the Minister of Education

The Minister of Education has the absolute authority to impose conditions upon both education workers and the local school board.  Further to that, the Act imposes a specific deadline on when a deal must be reached AND is deemed acceptable to the Minister of Education.  All of these decisions are NOT subject to any public review, nor can they be brought to the Ontario Legislature for discussion or debate.

E)  Removal of rights under the Ontario Labour Relations Act

The Act gives the Minister of Education the ability to override certain rights under the Ontario Labour Relations Act, including the right to strike or lockout.  Although very rarely exercised, the right of educational workers to strike and the right of school boards to lockout its employees are legitimate steps that assist the parties in reaching local agreements.  These agreements are established and ratified at the local level, and they often address many local issues.

F)  Imposes restrictions on the Ontario Labour Relations Board, arbitrators and the courts

The Act states that aspects of the Act itself or any disagreement related to the Minister of Education's actions under the Act CANNOT be challenged at the Ontario Labour Relations Board, CANNOT be legally resolved by a third party arbitrator, nor can it be challenged in a court of law.

The result...

Bill 115 gives the Minister of Education more authority over local school boards, and takes away responsibilities of democratically elected local school board trustees.  It will remove millions of dollars out of the publicly-funded education system in Ontario without public review or scrutiny.

How does Bill 115 affect me?

If you are an educational worker in the publicly-funded education system in Ontario, you have lost virtually all rights when it comes to negotiating a collective agreement with your legal employer - your local school board.  Any settlement must contain parameters dictated solely by the Minister of Education without any ability to negotiate or challenge them.

If you are a school board trustee, many of the rights and responsibilities that are entrusted to you under the Education Act have been arbitrarily usurped.  The Minister of Education now has almost all authority over school board decisions, especially in the area of labour relations and collective agreement negotiations.

If you are a public sector worker, the Act has set a precedent that the Ontario government will now impose collective agreement conditions upon its employees without public accountability.  The Liberal Party and Progressive Conservative Party have gone on record saying that other public sector workers may be subject to similar conditions in the near future.

If you are a citizen of Ontario, this Act begins a process where your government can create laws that will restrict your rights in this province.  By removing some of the authority of democratically elected school board trustees, the Ontario government has centralized local decision making into the hands of the Minister of Education.  In addition, we have seen how governments at different levels have interfered with a worker's legal right to free collective bargaining both in the private and public sector.

What can I do?

If you are opposed to Bill 115 and the attack on the rights of working citizens in Ontario, contact your local Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) to express your objection to this law.  To find contact information for your MPP, go to www.ontla.on.ca