First post...
Issues Pages:
Regions:
Ontario teachers and Bill 115
Mon, 2013-01-14 08:00
#1
Ontario teachers and Bill 115
Mon, 2013-01-14 08:12
#2
I was surprised that there was no thread on this happening yet when I did a search, beyond some side discussion in the "McGuinty Resigns" thread. So I thought I'd start one.
Anyone in the Toronto area hear Buzz Hargrove (who is now the Executive Director of the school of Labour Management Relations) on Metro Morning this morning, saying that he has "no sympathy" for the withdrawal of extracurriculars by the union? He was calling on the union to restore extracurriculars because they've lost public support by withdrawing them, and that the action they should take instead is to focus on the upcoming provincial election.
I'll post the link to the clip once the show is over and they've got it online. It's always a good start to the day when you wake up and yell at the radio. Solidarity forever!
Mon, 2013-01-14 09:24
#3
Wow. Did he also advise Chief Spence to get three square meals and concentrate on Atleo's [s]listens[/s] talks with Harper?
Mon, 2013-01-14 09:32
#4
If Basil is so enthusastic about unpaid labour, he's welcome to shovel my walkway.
Mon, 2013-01-14 09:38
#5
He sounded a lot better during the teachers' strikes [url=http://www.caw.ca/en/4410.htm]15 years ago[/url].
Mon, 2013-01-14 13:14
#6
Catchfire
Keep on fighting the good fight, Buzz.
Mon, 2013-01-14 14:36
#7
Lou Arab
Did he indicate which party he thought the teachers should support?
Mon, 2013-01-14 14:46
#8
Did he indicate which party he thought the teachers should support?
Ha! :)
Mon, 2013-01-14 14:48
#9
Well, here's the thing. You can disagree on tactics and that's fine - I'm sure that not everyone in the labour movement agrees with the extra-curricular action, and there might even be some internal debate within ETFO and OSSTF on the extra-curricular thing - I don't know, because I'm not a member of either union, and frankly, it's none of my business. What I do in solidarity is to support whatever action they decide to take.
Buzz, on the other hand, fed right into the media line about the big bad teacher unions persecuting longsuffering parents and kids.
The good thing about the interview was that he debunked the Liberal line about how teachers don't really support their union - he said that was ridiculous and that they do support their union. But I can't imagine how he figured he was doing ETFO and OSSTF any good whatsoever by denouncing their strategy on Metro Morning. And I see from the dismay on Twitter that he did the same thing on Ontario Morning across the rest of the province too.
Anyhow, here's the link to the interview if anyone is interested in listening
http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/episodes/2013/01/14/teacher-dispute-1/
Mon, 2013-01-14 14:55
#10
Lou Arab
Did he indicate which party he thought the teachers should support?
Ha! :)
I was actually half serious about the question. But I've listened to the interview and note that he didn't really say how they should get involved. He did indicate that the teachers should have gotten involved in the Liberal leadership race. That was the strategy of Alberta teachers who backed Alison Redford in the PC leadership contest out here. Now, her education minister is backing merit pay for teachers.
Ontario teachers should ask their Alberta counterparts how getting involved with the PC leadership race worked for them.
Mon, 2013-01-14 14:56
#11
Lou Arab
duplicate post
Tue, 2013-01-15 06:52
#12
Well, Buzz's appearance had the desired effect yesterday. Today, they played feedback from callers who called in after Buzz's hatchet job on the teachers' unions, and most of them felt that this wonderful "voice of labour" was absolutely right, and that the teachers should get back to volunteering thousands of hours of unpaid time as an important part of children's education.
And today, before playing the calls, Galloway mentioned that Buzz "teaches labour studies" at Ryerson.
Well, I looked up the school. I'm out of the Ryerson loop these days, but from what I could find online, it's called the "Centre for Labour Management Relations", which is run by Ryerson's business school, the Ted Rogers School of Management. Its Advisory Committee appears to have considerably more employer-side than labour-side advisors. And Buzz is listed as the "Executive Director", not a "teacher" (although maybe he teaches a course, I don't know).
Last I heard, top management jobs at universities like "Executive Directors" aren't exactly rank-and-file labour positions.
But at least there were a couple of dissenting callers in to the show. One said that it sounds like Buzz has forgotten his labour roots. Another asked the rhetorical question: when Buzz was a union leader, would he have advised his members to do thousands of hours of unpaid, volunteer work for the auto manufacturer that would improve the company's image, so that the company's clientele would be supportive of the union and the company? Doubtful.
Tue, 2013-01-15 09:08
#13
Although my children have benefitted from teachers involvement in extra-curricular activities, I have never understood society's expectation that teachers should perform extra duties for which they are not remunerated.
Tue, 2013-01-15 17:42
#14
ETFO responds to Buzz on Twitter:
#etfo responds to our invu w/ Buzz Hargrove RT @ETFOpresident: No conversation with Buzz b4 he trashed ETFO, our position, & our members!
And more RT @ETFOpresident: CAW Pres Ken Lewenza made it clear to me today that Buzz Hargrove doesn't speak for CAW or their members! #ETFO
Tue, 2013-01-15 18:24
#15
Good Lord, as if the labour movement doesn't have enough challenges.
Tue, 2013-01-15 18:48
#16
Anyone in the Toronto area hear Buzz Hargrove (who is now the Executive Director of the school of Labour Management Relations) on Metro Morning this morning, saying that he has "no sympathy" for the withdrawal of extracurriculars by the union? He was calling on the union to restore extracurriculars because they've lost public support by withdrawing them, and that the action they should take instead is to focus on the upcoming provincial election.
That is so fucking weird.
I don't know if it is still the case in Manitoba that teachers do not have the right to strike, and don't want it, because really, work to rule is a heavy enough stick, with the PR benefit that they can't be accused of harming kids' education. The Filmon Tories tried to force the strike option on them, shortly before they got turfed.
What possible motivation could Hargrove have for such a baseless, anti-labour stand? Does someone in his family have kids in hockey, or the school musical?
Tue, 2013-01-15 22:19
#17
From the staff rooms in my board, teachers enjoy doing extra-curricular activities. However, my fellow teachers know that human rights are more important than providing extra-curriculars. Already, other actions that teacher have taken are affecting their local communities. Teachers are no longer organizing field trips. Businesses and organizations that depend on field trips are hurting economically. Teachers are still not participating in school board and ministry workshops during the day and after school. That means that teachers are not learning new techniques to get their students to learn better.
I don't participate in extra-curricular activities as I am a supply teacher. If I were a contract teacher and my union president suggested that I return to doing extra-curriculars and organizing field trips, I would still not do them.
Buzz Hargrove suggested that teachers should return to doing extra-curricular activities because the public's image of teachers is hurting. He should know better that the goal of any union is first and foremost to represent its members and seek the best remuneration and working conditions possible. A union's first goal is not to seek public support or sympathy. Yes, it is nice to have the public on the side of the teachers. However, it is not absolutely necessary in order to get teachers a fair contract.
In the radio interview, Buzz made the assumption that there were only two political parties--the Liberals and Conservatives. He did not mention the NDP, although I have some worrying comments about Andrea Horwath and her willingness to prop up the Liberals.
Fri, 2013-01-18 01:19
#18
Teachers' Strikes and the Fight Against Austerity in Ontario
On January 3, Ontario Education Minister Laurel Broten announced that she will be imposing concessionary contracts on the province's teachers. This is a drastic attack on collective bargaining rights that the teachers have said they will fight. It follows on the heals of the Liberal minority government's Bill 115, “An Act to Implement Restraint Measures in the Education System,” passed last September with the support of the Conservatives.
A province-wide illegal strike across Ontario's public education system in response to the latest attack is a real possibility. To begin to turn back the austerity agenda and defend trade union rights, a determined fightback, including a province-wide walkout, is a necessity. A wider movement of support and solidarity also needs to be built. Unfortunately, there is not much hope that the provincial NDP will be an effective player in such a movement.....
Fri, 2013-01-18 01:21
#19
Tue, 2013-04-16 14:24
#20
Why I’m Voting NoOSSTF and Ontario Teachers
Teachers in Ontario may not know it, but their actions in this coming week will have huge ramifications for unionized workers across Ontario and across the country. We stand poised either to hold the line against the austerity agenda and mounting attacks on workers, or pave the way for escalating attacks on the labour movement.
After a year that has seen the provincial Liberal government strip education workers of their collective bargaining rights and legislate strips to our wages and benefits that took decades of struggle to win, public secondary teachers in Ontario will be voting this week on whether to accept a peace deal that offers some minor improvements over the “contract” imposed four months ago by Bill 115 but which leaves most of the major strips intact....
Thu, 2016-04-21 03:51
#21
The courts "strike" again - great news:
[url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-teachers-ruling-1.3545989]... judge rules province interfered with teachers' bargaining rights[/url]
An Ontario judge has found that the provincial government "substantially interfered" with teachers' right to collective bargaining.
The governing Liberals imposed contracts on teachers in 2012 amid a growing threat of strikes. The contracts froze wages for some teachers, limited their ability to strike and ended payouts for unused sick days.
Several unions took the government to court, arguing that Bill 115 violated their constitutional rights.
[...]
The judge has left it up to the unions and the government to discuss what the remedy should be.
If the parties can't agree, they can return to the court, which will determine the remedy.
Looks good on the strikebreaking Ontario government!