By Anthony Marco, OSSTF member Here’s why I will be voting AGAINST the upcoming OSSTF proposal to use arbitration as a tactic to prompt more effective bargaining with Ford’s Conservatives. I will be voting against the proposal even though I acknowledge that THIS TIME it could likely result in a better wage deal for OSSTF Continue readingArbitration tactic a mistake, says OSSTF member
education
I’m a teacher in Saskatchewan and my provincial government is trying to send me back to work to a room crowded full with the normal number of kids a building with 100s of people using the same few toilets with no safety measures in place and no extra funding to make it safe I want Continue readingEducation worker speaks out about reopening
By Rick Beer OSSTF member, Toronto District School BoardCandidate for Toronto Teacher Bargaining Unit president Some people believe that education workers should be grateful to have kept their jobs and their paycheques under the current circumstances – education workers should have gratitude for another contract containing real wage cuts. Some people believe that education workers Continue readingOSSTF tentative agreement: Why I’m voting NO
Photo via REUTERS/Chris Wattie by C Rockarts On Saturday, March 28, two days before workers were set to return from Spring Break, the UCP government announced the province’s largest mass layoff in history, with $128 million in cuts to funding for 26,000 educational assistants, bus drivers, substitute teachers and other K-12 support staff. The government Continue readingLargest layoff in Alberta history proves workers aren’t Kenney’s priority
On Sunday night hours from a strike deadline, CUPE representing 55,000 Ontario education workers, announced they achieved restored services for students and a fair contract for workers. For months, the government has been playing hardball with workers, students and parents in the education system. But workers, students and parents are fighting back. CUPE’s incredible win Continue readingWalk-in to Fight Ford’s Education Cuts
Last week, negotiations between the Canadian Union of Public Employees’ (CUPE) bargaining agent the Ontario School Board Council of Union (OSBCU) and the province move to mediation as bargaining makes no progress for the 55,000 education workers CUPE represents across Ontario. RankandFile.ca spoke with OSBCU President Laura Walton about the role of the government and Continue readingOntario’s education workers inch closer to strike position
“We’ve heard that people like to make memes about Doug Ford. Could you describe one of them?” asks a journalist from a mainstream media outlet. “I’m sorry, I can’t,” replies Amina Vance, an 18-year-old organizer of the Students Say No (SSN) group fighting Ford’s cuts to public education. “Let me tell you another story.” Memes Continue readingLessons from high-school organizers fighting Ford’s education cuts
On July 31, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) filed for conciliation after 10 days of bargaining with the Council of Trustees’ Associations (CTA) and the provincial government. RankandFile.ca spoke with Laura Walton, President of CUPE’s provincial bargaining agent, the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU), to discuss bargaining so far and the Continue readingBargaining stalled for Ontario’s education workers
Today on Rank & File Radio, teachers and students fighting for quality, public education. We’ll hear from Megan Linton, from the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Federation of Students, on creating a prairie solidarity network for students to connect, share knowledge and organizing skills. And we’ll hear an excerpt of my interview with Eric Blanc, Continue readingBuilding Student & Teacher Prairie Solidarity
By Peter Hogarth “I feel like education has been moving in a really good direction; schools are getting that they have to be there to support students’ mental health, we have to take care of racism and make students feel safe and this is just setting us back in so many different ways.” Nicole Luinenburg, Continue readingTeaching the Tories a lesson
By Doug Nesbitt and David Bush Ontario secondary school students organized the biggest walkout in the province’s history on April 4. Somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 students from over 700 high schools participated. Walkouts even spread to elementary schools. This is the second major student walk out in the province since the Tories were elected. Continue readingOntario’s Spring: Students lead, labour must follow
By Nick French After decades of decline, the past year has seen a dramatic revival in labor militancy. Public school teachers have been at the forefront of this resurgence, starting with a dramatic wildcat strike in West Virginia in February 2018, then a wave of teacher strikes that swept the nation, moving from red states like Arizona and Oklahoma to blue California and Colorado. Continue readingA Different Kind of Teachers’ Strike Wave