Welcome back to a new school year. As you are no doubt aware, the term of our current collective agreement expired on August 31st. However you are still fully protected because the terms of that agreement are still in effect, so on-calls, supervisions, class sizes, and all other conditions, continue as they did last year.

We are in negotiation with the Board. We met during the summer, again on 4th September, and have further dates set for October and early November. The Board is currently negotiating new collective agreements with ten different unions. We have been discussing non-monetary issues and are making progress. In these negotiations you are represented by the Table Team of Tom Byers, OSSTF Provincial Executive Assistant, Robin Crocker, District President, Al Burnham, Jennifer Keyes and Mike Pankarican, all elected by the Collective Bargaining Committee, and led by me, as Chief Negotiator.

There have also been Provincial Discussion Tables with the Ministry of Education and the various affiliates involved, including ourselves. As details emerge from these discussions, and our negotiations with the Board, you will be kept informed.

Yours in Solidarity,
Amanda Towe
Chief Negotiator

Provincial Discussion Table meetings to establish a provincial framework for local negotiations were reconvened this fall.  The first series of bargaining sessions took place November 17-20.  A second set of meetings took place November 26, 27 and 28.  At 1:45 a.m. on Friday, November 28, 2008, OSSTF reached a tentative provincial framework agreement with the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, thus establishing parameters to support local collective bargaining.

This framework will be presented at a special meeting of Teacher/Occasional Teacher Presidents and Chief Negotiators, members of the Provincial Collective Bargaining Committee and members of the Teacher/Occasional Teacher Ad Hoc Advisory Workgroup on Tuesday, December 2, 2008.

Details of the framework agreement will be released pending acceptance of the document.  The agreement includes a provision extending the previous deadline to January 30, 2009 to achieve local collective agreements.

All District Presidents and Chief Negotiators have been called to a province-wide meeting on Tuesday, December 2, 2008. At that time, Chief Negotiator Amanda Towe and I will be presented with the details of the framework agreement, followed by an acceptance vote. If you have read the “Staff Room Rap”, you have seen all the information which we have in the District 19 Office from Mobile Drive.

Yours in solidarity,
Robin Crocker
President