Talks Collapse In The Near North - Teachers Speak Out

Occasional Teachers with the Near North School Board will hit the bricks once again Monday as talks broke down between the North Occasional Teacher Local of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Near North School Board Friday afternoon.

Emily Noble, ETFO President in reaction to the breakdown released a statement saying that there was no desire on the part of the board to negotiate and end to the job action.

Noble states that the Near North board cannot expect the elementary occasional teachers to accept an agreement that is not equitable to that of the other 30 public elementary occasional teacher agreements already ratified.

She says relations are strained between the teachers and the board and expects those relations to worsen as the strike continues.

Full details are contained in the release below.

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ETFO released

Talks between the public elementary substitute teachers, members of the Near North Occasional Teacher Local of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario(ETFO), and the Near North District School Board broke down this morning.

The occasional teachers are engaged in the first public elementary occasional teacher strike since May 2002.

The rotating strike began on Tuesday, May 9. The teachers returned to classes on Wednesday but withdrew their services again on Thursday, May 11. Picket lines were called off for a day of negotiations on Friday, May 12.

“There was no desire on the part of the board to come to grip with the issues and so it’s back to the streets,” said Emily Noble, ETFO President.

“The key to breaking the stalemate was for the board to recognize and work with the pattern settlements in the rest of Ontario. The Near North board cannot expect to have an agreement with its elementary occasional teachers that bears no resemblance to the other 30 public elementary occasional teacher agreements already ratified.

“Relations are becoming increasingly strained between the teachers and this board and it will only worsen as this strike continues,” Noble emphasized.

“I am angry and disappointed that my members need to strike to be treated like professionals and get parity with other teacher employees. My members perform the same work, have the same responsibilities and have been earning less money for years. We are not going to accept less for another four years”, said Jan Heinonen, Near North Local President.

The Near North Occasional Teacher Local represents 275 public elementary occasional teachers. Their contract ended August 31, 2004.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario represents 70,000 public elementary teachers and education workers across Ontario and is the largest teacher federation in Canada outside of Quebec.

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