Bill 115: Why a Political Protest

   Collective bargaining gives employees a voice in determining their wages and working conditions, and has historically, set the stage for the benefits enjoyed by all workers in Ontario, eg. health care, CPP, maternity leave and the weekend.

  Bill 155 places the minister of education and the government beyond the reach of the Ontario Human Rights Code, Ontario Labour Relations Act and the courts. It gives the government unprecedented power. Under the law, the minister can end legal strike action, reserve the right to approve all collective agreements, and impose a collective agreements on ETFO members.

  Bill 115 puts all working Ontarians at risk and undermines the guarantees made to Canadians under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that include:

• Our right to organize, to engage in collective bargaining, and to withdraw our services to advance workplace goals;
• Our right to freedom of expression, specifically the rights of employees to express themselves regarding terms and conditions affecting their workplace, including strike activity or a withdrawal of services;
• Protecting employees from being forced to work under terms and conditions which are coerced, dictated, or imposed by state.

ETFO Members- Standing up for Democracy               

The Liberal government may have targeted Teachers / OTs to be first example for imposing austerity measures - but they picked the wrong public servants. ETFO members have continued to call this government to task in a very public way:

• When the government passed Bill 115, 15,000 ETFO members and others from labour and community groups protested at Queen's Park the very next day;
• ETFO members joined with many community and labour activists to help defeat the provincial Liberals in the Waterloo by-election;
• Members have continued to work with local labour and community groups to picket MPP offices around the province on a weekly basis.

As ETFO members, we have been the front line in standing up for democratic rights in Ontario. With the Day of Protest, we can send a resounding message to the public, the media, and elected officials that fundamental rights will only be restored in Ontario with the repeal of Bill 115.

How Bill 115 affects Daily Occasional Teachers     

1. Bill 115 has reduced sick days for permanent Teachers and eliminated sick leave banks. Teachers are being forced to come to work sick, which means finding teaching assignments is now even more difficult for Occasional Teachers.
2. Your TVDSB collective agreement allowed OTs to accumulate sick leave credits when assigned to LTOs to use if we become ill and can't work. The government has capped annual sick leave; this will significantly reduce the number of fully-paid sick days available to Occasional Teachers.
3. With the current inflation rate running at approximately 2.6% per year, the two-year salary freeze will erode the purchasing power of Occasional Teachers.