By Ryan Hayes A group of Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) with the Halton District School Board (HDSB) were in the midst of a union drive when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. With schools closed and physical distancing rules in effect, workers had to quickly shift gears and experiment with new approaches in order to win their Continue readingHow ECEs formed a union during COVID-19
ETFO
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
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 Gerard Di Trolio A little over a week since the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) announced that it would defend teachers who taught the now abolished 2015 sex-ed curriculum, Doug Ford has responded with a website encouraging parents to snitch on teachers. The website also instructs parents that they can also complain to Continue readingFord’s teacher snitch line is a declaration of war
Why class caps are the crucial issue for anti-austerity organizing by Joel Harden Last Friday, in my hometown of Ottawa, I walked an information picket organized by District 25 of the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers Federation (OSSTF). What I saw and heard confirmed the stakes involved in defending (and improving) public education. It was a Continue readingFor public education, class size matters
Rail safety | EI reform fiasco | Bill C-377 | NGF Guelph strike | Saskatoon transit lockout | Live-in caregiver program | Good Jobs Summit | Pensions study | ETFO anti-racism | Canada-Korea Free Trade | Ontario health and safety | Dalhousie post-docs Rail Safety New Teamsters TV Commercial on rail safety Train cars that Continue readingRankandFile.ca Labour News Update: October 13, 2014
by Doug Nesbitt The current Ontario election could be an immense turning point for organized labour in the province and across Canada. As union activists know, the Tim Hudak Tories are promising devastating public sector layoffs of 100,000 people, union-wrecking right-to-work legislation, and the privatization of the already unjust Workplace Safety Insurance Board. And his Continue readingOrganizing our way out of Ontario’s political mess
by Doug Nesbitt Recent Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) president Ken Coran shocked many teachers, education workers and trade unionists this past week when it was announced he would run as an Ontario Liberal in the London-West by-election later this summer. Why would Coran run for the same party that had used the authoritarian Continue readingKen Coran: Anatomy of a Sellout
by David Bush and Doug Nesbitt Over a month has passed since Bill 115 was repealed by the Ontario Liberals, but the contracts imposed on the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation and Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario remain intact and effectively unchallenged. This has led to several incidents of open dissent from the ranks of Continue readingDissent brews in the OSSTF
[Editor’s Note: this article has been slightly revised to reflect OSSTF’s decision to cancel its January 16 protest.] by Doug Nesbitt At 4am this morning, the Ontario Labour Relations Board ruled that a “political protest” by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario would be an unlawful action. ETFO leaders promptly called off the protest and Continue readingOntario teachers and the law
by Doug Nesbitt In the coming week, Ontario’s teachers, education workers and students will be turning up the heat on the Liberal minority government and Bill 115, which imposes a concessionary bargaining agenda on teachers unions and the school boards, and allows the cabinet to change tentative agreements and stop strikes without even legislative oversight. Continue readingKill Bill 115: Where is the movement going?