In late February, the Ontario School Boards’ 
Association (OPSBA) and the Liberal government 
demanded numerous unacceptable concessions 
at the teacher/OT table. Their agenda would take 
us back more than a decade and would strip 
collective agreements of articles that ETFO has 
bargained for over many years.

These concessions included strips to sick leave pro-
visions, increased supervision time, the ability for 
principals to direct preparation time, control over 
diagnostic testing, the removal of staffing and class 
size provisions from local agreements, the elimina-
tion of Regulation 274 and several monetary con-
cessions. After giving OPSBA and the government 
a “time-out” to reconsider these demands, ETFO 
applied for conciliation on March 31.

It was clear by April 17, when ETFO met with the 
conciliator, that OPSBA and the government were 
unwilling to drop the concessions so the ETFO 
bargaining team requested a “no board” report. 
This report, issued by the Minister of Labour on 
April 24, put ETFO in a legal strike position for the 
teacher/OT table as of May 10.

Effective Work-to-Rule Action

ETFO members have fought back to take back 
control of their working conditions. ETFO staff 
met with stewards and local teacher/OT/ESP/PSP/
DECE executive members across the province to 
share its plan for commencing “Phase 1” of work-
to-rule strike action on May 11. Phase 1 directed 
teachers and occasional teachers to withdraw 
from participation in all Ministry of Education 
initiatives and some administrative duties con-
nected to board activities. Most significant was 
the refusal to participate in EQAO testing and 
provide comments on report cards. 

ETFO’s administrative work-to-rule strike action 
had immediate effects. The Ministry of Education 

cancelled spring EQAO testing in Grades 3-6, pro-
viding teachers with welcome opportunities for 
more meaningful teaching and learning.

ETFO teachers also provided year-end report 
card grades without comments in print form to 
their principals. A public outcry ensued when a 
number of district school boards announced that 
they would send a pass/fail form letter instead 
of report cards to parents. School boards were 
forced to reverse their position. 

Job action is never easy, but ETFO members have 
shown their resolve. They have demonstrated 
that they will not accept an austerity agenda and 
a lack of respect for their professional judgement.
 

Support Staff Central 

Bargaining Table

In January, ETFO met with the Liberal govern-
ment, OPSBA and the Ontario Catholic School 
Trustees’ Association (OCSTA) to negotiate the 
central table list for its DECEs, ESPs and PSPs. All 
central table list items were agreed upon with 
the exception of one: student supervision. ETFO 
saw this item as a central table item, while OPSBA 
and OCSTA saw it as a local item. As a result of 

ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO

5

Standing Up to Protect Our Professionalism

Photo: Vivian McCaffrey