OECTA Sudbury Letter + Teacher Weekend Protest Guide 2 !

OECTA Sudbury Breaks Ranks/ O'Dwyer At Oct 2 TSU Q+A!

[Monday Sept 24 news links + TSU Committee Reports Continue Below........................]

OECTA President Kevin O'Dwyer at TSU MOU Q+A Oct 2

IMPORTANT NOTICE: OECTA President Kevin O'Dwyer HAS confirmed he will be at the Oct 2 OECTA TSU MOU Q+A meeting to be held at St. Basil's, with our President Rene Jansen. There are also TSU Q+A meetings Oct 1 at Senator O'Connor, and Oct 3 at Marshall McLuhan CSS, but to ask Kevin questions, you will need to attend Oct 2.

David Church was chief negotiator for the MOU. He is not on our OECTA provincial executive. He will be at the other meetings. David is a good guy to ask technical questions about the terms of the deal, but I doubt he can comment on OECTA provincial executive's political decision to agree.

Wonder if Kevin reads my blog? Alot of our members are feeling like they have been muzzled and boondoggled since the end of June. This is causing deep rifts and a very strong sense of betrayal by our union. This is a very, very, very bad situation for us all to be in. Blaming it on lies and misinformation is not an acceptable answer.

Sunday Sept 25

Sudbury Unit Breaks Ranks Against OECTA Agreement!!!

Angry Oecta Sudbury President Kent MacNeill releases statement that his unit has filed a complaint with the Ontario Labour Board against OECTA Provincial Executive for failing in their duty of representation. He explains what the unit has all ready done to try to rectify the situation directly with OECTA Provincial, and their response. Kent also claims COP was told Provincial would ratify the deal regardless of how they voted. The press release is reprinted below. The highlights are my own. See:

OECTA Sudbury Press Release: In the wake of the Memorandum of Understanding negotiated with the Ontario Government and ratified by the OECTA Provincial Executive with neither input nor vote by the local membership, the OECTA Sudbury Elementary Bargaining Unit voted unanimously to file a complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board against the Provincial Executive for failing in their duty of fair representation. Internal means of discipline investigation were attempted, but the response from the OECTA Provincial Office was that the internal discipline investigation procedure did not apply to members of the Provincial Executive acting in that capacity. Essentially, they may act outside the by-laws and procedures in the Handbook to which the other 45 000 OECTA members must adhere. In a letter to the General Secretary of OECTA, the Sudbury Elementary Unit President alleged that by negotiating and ratifying the MofU with the government, over thirty By-Laws and procedures contained in the OECTA Handbook were breached. “We believe that in our society, democracy should reign supreme. Everyone should have the right to vote. Everyone should have the right to give input into their working conditions. The MofU took away these fundamental rights from my members. Even worse, my members lost significantly more under this MofU than any other unit in the province, as stated by the Provincial President, yet they cannot refuse to accept this MofU. In fact, when the Presidents from all OECTA Units were called down to a Special Council of Presidents Meeting in July, we were told that even if the Council should fail to endorse the MofU, it was ratified by the Provincial Executive and so was a done deal,” said Kent MacNeill, President OECTA Sudbury Elementary Unit.

Please also see my earlier blog on OECTA Halton President Richard Brock's opposition to the deal: http://tsu3rdvp.blogspot.ca/2012/08/brock-breaks-oecta-cone-of-silence.html

When will the levy break? My guess is to expect the trickle of simliar actions by other OECTA units to turn into a fludd in the weeks ahead. Maybe I'm wrong, but if my reader members' "Comments" under each of my blogs is any indication, the current of discontent runs deep!

And in other protest news:

Excellent "you are there" Youtube video of the Liz Sandals protest. Love the soundtrack. Great editing + visuals too. Not too long or boring. Very effective + top notch! See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qn9Vc5rHvc&feature=youtu.be

Star Editorial Opinion piece angry teachers won't volunteer for extracurriculars. What does voluntary mean? Duh. See: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/1260777--ontario-public-school-teachers-take-frustration-out-on-kids?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

See Broten and OSSTF President duke it out on Focus Ontario video, with John Tory + Leslie Roberts: http://www.globaltoronto.com/video/mcguinty+vs+teachers/video.html?v=2282522442#focusontario/video/full+episodes

David Doorey's "The Charter + The Law of Work: A Beginners Guide." [19 page pdf]. If you really want to be in the know you better start reading. See: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2150279

Monday Sept 24

Know thy enemy. The Toronto Sun begins it's venomous attacks on teachers in earnest. Those of us who were around during the Harris years will remember this well. Editorial cartoons showing us as lazy, selfish and incompetent are on their way. Every right wing kook in Ontario will be writing letters to the editor drooling at the mouth. In today's attack, we are accused of brainwashing our studenhts to protest for us, and they don't have any choice anyway, because thy are afraid we will fail them, parents too. See: http://www.torontosun.com/2012/09/21/teachers-arent-protesting-for-the-kids

Durham letter to the editor claims extracurriculars do not an education make: http://www.durhamregion.com/opinion/letters/article/1506915--students-are-getting-a-full-educational-experience

Parents for Education primer provides an up to date balanced view of the current education crisis for your average reader: http://www.peopleforeducation.ca/pfe-news/answers-to-questions-about-the-current-unrest-in-education/

Rabble.ca analyses the failed McGuinty gambit to turn on teachers thinking it would gain him more public support: http://rabble.ca/news/2012/09/responding-mcguintys-attacks-labour-why-we-cant-just-roll-over

Windsor Star story pops the propaganda ballon that teachers are overpaid, and responsible for the deficit:
http://www.windsorstar.com/blame+public+sector/7288572/story.html

ETFO strike votes across Ontario pack members in. Most support is in the upper 90% range. Take a gander at one such meeting in Ottawa Carleton. Are our OECTA members content to just sit back and just do nothing? Please see:  http://twitter.yfrog.com/g06nrpoj

OSSTF is experiencing the same result. Here's the press release from Bluewater, where members voted 97% in favour of strike action. Will we be good Catholic boys + girls? Just keep on going to teach at school if something happens? That's the plan! It could get tense in the days ahead. Read + think hard
for yourself: http://www.osstf.on.ca/MR-Sep-24-2012-04

This student protest video has gone viral on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AVJqApY_vbY#!

A young student's letter to Mr. McGuinty. Just plain folks love this. Definitely stirs the cockles of one's heart. Very well done. Very effective. Mom + Dad should be proud. Please give the little lad a pat on the head for us all. Share: https://twitter.com/profmush/status/248948515798147072/photo/1

Saturday Sept 22

This cyber flyer for the Student Queen's Park Rally in support of teachers is available to retweet at: https://twitter.com/TheGrandSolo/status/249272320840044546/photo/1

Putting Students First is getting out the message from students that our Ontario teachers put students first. Looks like the Premier's media office is following them now: http://pbs.twimg.com/media/A3X-0JzCQAAx-cm.jpg

A CTV video of student strikes in Vaughan: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video-students-protest-ontario-teacher-job-action/article4542689/?from=4561078

To read this lawyer's blog on the constutionality of Bill 115 see: http://seanbawden.blogspot.ca/2012/09/whats-really-being-put-first.html

Regg Cohn comments on Dalton's strategy + alliances at Queen's Park. Also on tweaking his tough guy act vis a vis "tough love" but "no grenades" with the other public servants. I'm not convinced it's going to help the Liberals. With all the ongoing teacher protests, who's he kidding but himself? He's blown it big time with his strongest supporters, and is paying the price. Now if only my own affiliate OECTA would get off it's duff and go kick him where it hurts over Bill 115, for starters. See: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1260966--cohn-once-more-with-tough-love-from-dalton-mcguinty

Public school boards investigating legal means to force teachers to attend parent/ curriculum nights. See: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/boards-may-force-teachers-to-attend-parents-nights/article4561078/?cmpid=rss1&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

People 4 Education's Crisis Primer is at: http://www.peopleforeducation.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/People-for-Education-the-education-situation-in-a-nutshell1.pdf

An opinion piece on extracurriculars, followed by an online poll for 2 year strike ban. Vote: 
http://www.guelphreview.ca/2012/09/19/students-caught-in-the-middle

Rumour: Sudbury OECTA is taking Ontario Provincial to the Labour Board. Can anyone confirm?

More to come. I've just kept  adding links below too, where appropriate......

Friday Sept 21

ETT staging Toronto wide protest outside Lib MPP and Minister offices today. For more details see:
http://ett.ca/media-centre/whats-new/let-ontario-liberals-know-well-never-forget-september-21-2012

OSSTF D10 teachers vote 99% for strike action in Lampton Kent: http://www.theobserver.ca/2012/09/21/teachers-vote-99-for-strike-mandate

Finance Minister Duncan says teachers should "leave students out" of contract dispute with extracurricular boycott and praises automaker union negotiations: Fiance Minister Dwight Duncan acccuses teachers of using students.

Protesters stop traffic in downtown Guelph: https://twitter.com/tk1ng/status/249242678326337536/photo/1

Teachers and EA's protest outside Lib MPP Gen Murray's office today: https://twitter.com/Leslie_Wolfe/status/249245381072941056/photo/1

Young protester has a message for Education Minister: https://twitter.com/OSSTFdiva/status/249265194608500736/photo/1

Lots of photos from large Guelph protest outside MPP Liz Sandles office today: https://plus.google.com/u/0/111381450809947186802/posts/MVcxXh6Ftqs

A recording of TVO's Steve Paikin's Sept 21st live chat on Queen's Park verses the Teachers is available here: http://theagenda.tvo.org/blog/agenda-blogs/live-chat-queens-park-vs-teachers-friday-sept-21-130-pm-edt

Student protests, walkouts and rallies across the GTA listed today to protest 115. Silent treatment in one Gr.8 class because they can't go outside: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/education/article/1260122--students-plan-to-protest-loss-of-extracurriculars-with-mouths-shut

CP24 reports on student walk outs today in support of teachers + democratic rights: http://www.cp24.com/brampton-students-protest-liberal-teacher-legislation-1.966596

Black Out: A great student move to wear black on Black Fridays, to protest Bill 115. Easy to do. See: https://twitter.com/i/#!/search/?q=%23SLSSBlackOut&src=hash

Durham Board decides not to punish students for "orderly" walk out protest: http://www.durhamregion.com/community/education/article/1506629--no-punishment-for-clarington-student-protest

100's of Bowmanville High and Clarington Central Public students march on city hall and MPP John O'toole's office Sept 20th in support of teachers. See: http://www.durhamregion.com/article/1505880--what-about-us-clarington-students-protest-bill-115

100's of students walk out as protests continue across Grey Bruce in support of teachers. Scroll down the 923 News page for this: http://923thedock.com/local-news/

The Kingston Whig [?!] reports on student movement's use of social media to mobilize protests. Wow! These kids are good! This is a leading edge new wave protest for sure Watch them to see how it's done.
We have much to learn. The Sixties in 2012? For starters read: http://www.thewhig.com/2012/09/20/students-use-social-media-to-support-teachers

Got a Smart Board at school? Many excellent documentaries available for free to teach very relevant social, politcal and other relevant issues to the new generation of young protesters. Thanks to Rob D'Addario for the Twitter tip! See: http://www.freedocumentaries.org/  Also tres kool: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/watch-online/ Ditto: http://paper.li/humanrightfilms/1294921398

Reality fix: The sad truth for  many: Parents face legal liabilities + must closely supervise and often hold activities off school property if they decide to run extracurriculars themselves. That's the way it legally works folks, and teachers regularly volunteer for this all the time: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/education/article/1260103--parents-told-they-can-t-take-over-cross-country-teams-from-teachers

Surly Ottawa Sun editor snarls at citizen letter blaming boards and government for underfunded and unpaid teacher extracurricular activities. Teachers to "keep in mind it's the public that pays their wages." Duh! These are voluntary duties above + beyond what we are paid for dummy! Read + weep at the Sun's mentality. It's only going ot get worse: http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/09/20/letters-to-the-editor-sept-21-2

OSSTF Media Advisory: Halton teacher protest outside Lib MPP's Kevin Flynn's office today [Fri] at 4pm: http://www.osstf.on.ca/MA-Sep-20-2012-01

Change.org petition for premier to reverse Bill 115 because of no extracurriculars: https://www.change.org/petitions/protest-bill-115-the-putting-students-first-act-and-support-teachers?utm_campaign=action_box&utm_medium=twitter&utm_so

CUPE President Fred Hahn  + NDP Leader Andrea Horwath speak out aganst public service wage freeze: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/education/article/1260103--parents-told-they-can-t-take-over-cross-country-teams-from-teachers

Reg Cohn takes neo realistic stab at union concessions during tough economic times. I'm going to look at the OECTA deal from the same perspective in an upcoming blog. Many will disagree but it is important to consider the protest from different points of view, to have any depth or balance to your arguments. Do we educate or indoctrinate? Hold your nose as you read, if need be.If the argument is wrong, well then, you need to be able to explain why, to have any credibility beyond the party faithful. Neo real is a pretty hard take. Hard nosed and often quite brutal and nasty. Breath deep. See: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1259527--cohn-how-some-unions-make-the-best-and-worse-of-tough-times

Guelph Record reader disputes Cohns arguments against extracurricular protest in earlier column: http://www.guelphmercury.com/opinion/letters/article/801653--teacher-dispute-has-broader-ramifications

Bogger + history teacher Sean O'Conner lists reasons why the OECTA MOU negotiations were a good idea: http://www.goingupfield.blogspot.ca/

Apparantly a special OETA Provincial letter was sent members at the Halton schools in President Richard Brock's unit regarding Bill 115. I need to confirm. Anyone have a pdf copy?

Brock Breaks OECTA "Cone of Silence"!

Oecta Halton Elementary Unit President Richard Brock has become the first member of the Council of Presidents to publicly speak out against our OECT PDT agreement. Richard Brock's comments came on the heels of Premier McGuinty's recent statement that he wants the other Ontario teacher affiliates to voluntarily use the agreement as a PDT "road map" for their own deal, or he will recall Queens Park to legislate the PDT terms for their next contract, by August 31. And so the drama continues! The irascible Brock is quoted in the Globe and Mail as saying;

“It’s a road map to disaster,” Richard Brock, president of the Halton Catholic Elementary Teacher’s Association, said in an interview on Friday. “I’m disgusted and embarrassed by it.” 

Mr. Brock said the union agreed to concessions without seeking “one iota” of input from local bargaining groups. He plans to explore every avenue to unwind it, including going to the province’s Labour Relations Board.

The OECTA PDT consulting process has been very contentious, even among our own membership. Mr. Brock is angry that provincial did not seek "one iota" of input from the local unit CB [Collective Bargaining] committees on the many concessions they agreed upon in our MOU [Memo of Understanding]. He would seem to be perfectly correct on this point with the caveat that the local CB teams were in contact with Provincial during the spring before it was signed. The surprise MOU itself only required the Provincial Executive and COP's consent for ratification purposes on and then after July 5th respectively.

OECTA's PDT process could be changed for future purposes by motions and amendments at our OECTA Spring 2013. The reps from each unit can also express the membership's pleasure or displeasure with the way the deal was made when voting for the next provincial executive at that time. Otherwise, whether one agrees or disagree with President Brock, and the way it was carried out, the OECTA PDT agreement is a done deal.

What was the ratification process? I am including the OECTA PT Timetable from June 21st to July 5th below so you can better  follow what happened at the executive end. You will note that our provincial negotiating team reached an agreement with the MOE at 8:45 am on July 5th. It was approved at an executive meeting held between 10:45 am and 12:30 pm. An OECTA press statement followed at 1pm. There is a timing discrepancy between the MOE and provincial announcements that caused some confusion and concern, but you can read that below. I will defer that for now so as not to digress.

Next, at the July 10 COP [Council of Presidents' Meeting] 42 unit presidents voted for, and 24 against the July 5th OECTA PDT MOU. Members have since privately talked with their different unit presidents to find out how they voted, but most of us wouldn't know, as nothing official has so far been been released. We have not seen the recorded vote made at the in camera COP meeting. Nor have any of the presidents publicly stepped forward to denounce the deal until now.

Our OECTA private member website contains a copy of the MOU, the PDT timetable, a Q+A on the agreement, as well as President Dwyer's provincial letter to the members, and a collection of past CB Bulletins. Most if not all of these have also been previously forwarded by snail and email to the members,
if you have been around to read them. A new posting wasn't added until the letter about the London Catholic Board, dated August 3rd. OECTA Provincial has also emailed out copies. I will address the London issue in my next blog.

President Dwyer and General Secretary Marshall Jarvis have been scheduled for speaking engagements late this month and into September with at least some of our units. We know they will be meeting the Dufferin Peel members on August 23rd. We are awaiting the announcement of a similar Toronto Secondary Unit meeting, currently thought to be in either during the last week of August, or the first week back to school.

It would be my guesstimate, and that's all it is, that any further public announcements by the individual presidents would occur during that time frame. Provincial will ostensibly be coming around then with more information since all of our members will have returned from their summer holidays. Meanwhile those presidents, executives and members who like Richard are "disgusted and embarrassed" will probably have to continue to wait before any further discussion ensues with provincial over whether or not our PDT agreement is "a road map to disaster", as he claims.

The frustration is quite palpable amongst many of the members corresponding with me. I can appreciate Richard Brock's candour. As a TSU executive member, I officially met along with our other officers, to advise President Rene Jansen on how we thought he should vote before COP met. Rene also assured me that he would be making an announcement explaining to our membership how he voted and why. It's been a long wait. It would be my best guess that none of these announcements are scheduled until the end of the month. Then again, President Brock has now broken the silence. What next?

Much of today's info is a rehash of my previous OETA PDT blogs which you can still find in my Blog Archives for July and August. More info on the ratification process can be found on my July 10th blog: What Next?" I told you then that I advised Rene not to vote for the deal. You know the score. Sigh! Alas! My statements are my own. They are supported by publicly available primary resources,documents, statements, info and opinions etc. etc. etc., that are freely and widely available in the mainstream media if not the OECTA site, and so it goes, and on and on and on.

Officially speaking, I don't know what more I can say about OECTA's PDT information strategy. As far as ratification goes, we were all sent Provincials PDT Q+A which states:

Q.  Will I get a chance to vote on the provincial agreement? A.   No. This is a memorandum of understanding between OECTA and the Ministry of Education; this is not a collective agreement. The agreement has been ratified by the OECTA Provincial Executive, who are your elected representatives. You will have a chance to vote on any local agreement that may be negotiated by your local collective bargaining team.

I don't think provincial can be any more blunt than that in explaining the nuts and bolts of the OECTA PDT decision making process. It will be very interesting to see how our members react in the month ahead as we  all return to school after simmering over the OECTA PT for the past two months. The Ontario Liberal, Conservative and NDP political circus will still be carrying on. The MOE August 31 contract deadline will  loom large over everything that happens from here on in. Without doubt, we live in very interesting times. They may be just about to get a whole lot more hot blooded however one might feel about our PDT deal!

Richard Brock will no doubt continue to "explore every avenue" including the Provincial Labour Board to "unwind the deal" from within. Successful or not, one suspects he will not be alone in his quest! Intentional or not, and in my opinion it most certainly is, it seems like there is an "OECTA Cone of Silence" secret mentality hanging over us. My baby boomer readers will recall Agent Maxwell Smart and the Chief always entered the "Cone of Silence" when talking about important, secret matters in the TV Comedy "Get Smart". It was always inevitably to useless effect. Indeed, our own Cone of Silence is certainly creating a lot of anger and suspicion on it's own, by it's very secretive nature, outside our provincial office.

Will our members suspect that where there is smoke there is also fire? Or will they be glad for the way provincial has made and handled the PDT deal in our summer absence? I've discussed my own views on executive accountability and transparency in my "Confidentiality Agreement" blogs last November and December. I distrust big secrets equally of course, be they from the church, the school board, or even our own teachers' union. We are quick to the fight when our school boards act secretively and expect us to just go along with their plans. It is wrong to allow our own association to act the same way, if that's what's happening now, as it most certainly seems.

Do you know how to grow mushrooms? Quite frankly it makes me wince, as I consider the answer, to even suspect that is what is happening here. I can quite easily understand Richard Brock's angst, despite my usual high regard for our OECTA leadership. It's very disconcerting and apt to make one fear for the worst, when we are left in the dark about what's happening, by those who we choose to represent us. These feelings quite naturally take root in the deafening silence. Do good Catholic teachers just willing wait and not question authority because that's what we are told to do? Not me, nor many of the rest of you either! As Maxwell Smart was apt to say, "Sorry about that chief", but we need some good answers, better too soon than too late!

The complete Globe article with Richard Brock is at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ontarios-deal-with-english-catholic-teachers-union-starts-to-crumble/article4462698/

You will note that the Globe article also discusses the trustees, most notably the public school board. I look forward to further commenting on our Catholic Boards, in particular the Lindsey Catholic Board, in my next blog.

You will find the OECTA PDT time table below. It covers up to and including July 5th. As with the the MOE time table from my last blog, you might want to consider the language and information very carefully as you read and begin to compare, for your own erudition, our slim OECTA info piece.

Here it is if you haven't seen it all ready:

June 21, 2012

• A Special Council of Presidents’ meeting is held to provided council members with a detailed and omprehensive understanding of the status of the PDT talks.



June 28, 2012
• OECTA presents the government with a comprehensive offer that meets the government’s fiscal
parameters and achieves real savings, while protecting student learning in the classrooms and is in the
interests of Catholic teachers.

July 4, 2012
• The Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association leaves the PDT table at approximately 11:30 p.m.

July 5, 2012 (times are approximate)

• 8:45 a.m.
OECTA signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the government.

• 9:30 a.m. 
Unit presidents are notified that both the government and OECTA will hold press conferences to provide an update on the status of the PDT talks.

• 10:30 a.m. 
Minister Broten holds a press conference announcing that an agreement has been reached with OECTA and provides a significant level of detail about the agreement.While the Minister’s press conference is taking place, the OECTA Provincial Executive meets to consider the MOU signed earlier in the morning. The Provincial Executive is required to ratify the MOU prior to release of any information to unit presidents. This meeting was held from approximately 10:45 a.m. to approximately 12:30 p.m.


• 12:40 p.m.
Unit and OTBU presidents are notified that the agreement was ratified by the Provincial Executive and are provided with OECTA’s news release regarding the agreement.

• 1:00 p.m.
OECTA President Kevin O’Dwyer holds a press conference at OECTA provincial office as the OECTA news release is distributed to news outlets and posted on the OECTA website.

• 2:20 p.m.
Unit and OTBU presidents are provided with a letter to members from the president and a chart providing details about the agreement. Both of these are posted on the OECTA members-only website and will be mailed to each member.

Get Smart? "The Code of Silence" Model #1:

Model #2 Alternate: Even more private but don't forget your breath mints!

Marshall! Kevin! What's with our OECTA Cone of Silence anyway? Enquiring minds need to know!

The last word? See the reader "Comments" link below my last blog......