My Letter to Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne (Ont. Liberal MPP, Don Valley West and Potential Premier) -- by Anne Shier

Here is my letter to Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne.  She may very well replace Dalton McGuinty as Ontario's new Premier in the next provincial election if the Liberal Party retains power.  I want her and the Liberal Party to be aware of OSSTF's intention that its members will continue to fight the negative impact of Bill 115.  Between her and the current Minister of Education, Laurel C. Broten, they have managed to make the public education sector suffer greatly for the loss of their democratic collective bargaining rights.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne

Ontario Liberal MPP, Don Valley West

Suite 101, 795 Eglinton Avenue East

Toronto, Ontario M4G 4E4

Re:  Protest against Bill 115

To Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne:

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my letter of October 3, 2012 regarding Bill 115.  I’d also like to think that you appreciate my dedication to my profession.  I take my teaching very seriously and want non-teachers to appreciate what we have to offer our students in Ontario’s public high schools.

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, in fact, were rejected outright.  The idea of forcing local school boards to agree to the government’s pre-determined educational funding goals (via Bill 115) is not what we would consider a good way to negotiate a new contract with OSSTF’s teacher members.

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 the educational sector.  You’ve made it clear in your letter that part of Bill 115 was meant to freeze the wages of all educational workers for two years.  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, now and into the future.

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 Liberal 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 some 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, myself, have personally taken on the task of writing to every MPP in the province.  We have also instituted a strike job action to assert our collective displeasure with this government’s extremely controversial legislation.

I’d like to thank you, Ms. Wynne, again for taking the time to reply to my letter.  I can appreciate the implementation of Bill 115 only for the purpose of “getting the province’s fiscal house in order”.  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 for its teacher members 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