OSSTF members protest; one local ratifies

More than 150 members of the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation protested Bill 115 outside of MP Todd Smith’s office in Belleville on Wednesday.
The OSSTF members were unable to speak with Smith during the after-school protest as he was attending a caucus meeting in Toronto.
The members were protesting the loss of collective bargaining rights and contract changes to issues such as banked sick days.

The after-school demonstrated replaced a planned one-day protest cancelled by the federation upon learning the Ontario Labour Relations Board ruling last week that such a protest would violate the Ontario Labour Relations Act.

Meanwhile, the provincial government signed a tentative agreement with the provincial Canadian Union of Public Employees for the period Sept. 1, 2012 to Aug. 31, 2014. In Hastings and Prince Edward, CUPE Local 1022 represents approximately 600 educational assistants, custodial, maintenance, office clerical, technical employees and early childhood educators.

CUPE Local 1022 ratified the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the provincial government on Jan. 9, 2013. The Hastings Prince Edward District School Board trustees received the CUPE MoU Jan. 14, 2013, and supported the application of locally agreed upon items, including refinements to staffing processes.

“The Board and CUPE teams worked together to come to agreement on local issues. They took a respectful approach to negotiations and came to a successful result,” said Rob McGall, Director of Education.