• Ontario teachers ramp up PR campaign ahead of negotiations
  CBC News – Tuesday, August 18, 2015
• Liberals, school boards ‘in for the fight of their lives’
  The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, August 18, 2015
• ETFO’s federal election plan to ‘Heave Steve’
  Toronto Sun – Monday, August 17, 2015
• Liberals, school boards ‘in for the fight of their lives,’ says teachers’ union president
  The Star – Monday, August 17, 2015
• Sam Hammond vows the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario will not to back down in bargaining
  Durham Region – Monday, August 17, 2015

• video of President Sam Hammond’s Opening Address
• an album of photos from Monday
• 2015 Report to Annual Meeting
• Report on ETFO’s Equity and Women’s Programs

TORONTO, ON – Susan Swackhammer, a teacher with the Grand Erie District School Board and former president of the Grand Erie ETFO Teacher Local, was today re-elected first vice-president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) for another two-year term.

“We cannot accept the faulty mantra that we can’t afford decent public services or pay the people who provide them. The students in our care and society at large demand better. Our students must have the resources that will help them succeed and that is particularly true for our most vulnerable students,” Swackhammer told over 800 delegates to ETFO’s Annual Meeting in Toronto.

“Many provisions related to teacher professionalism and classroom improvements were fairly negotiated in collective agreements over the past decade. Our members expect to see that those working conditions- which are directly related to student learning conditions- are maintained during the current round of central bargaining.”

Elected to her current position in 2009, Susan has taught all grades from Kindergarten to grade 8.  She served as president of the Brant Teacher Local of the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario (FWTAO) from 1991-1995 and began serving on the FWTAO provincial executive in 1995.  She was one of the founding executive members of ETFO and served as its first vice-president from 1998-2000.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario represents 76,000 elementary public school teachers and education professionals across the province and is the largest teacher federation in Canada.

TORONTO, ON – Sam Hammond was re-elected president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) at its Annual Meeting today for a fourth term. He has served as ETFO president since 2009.

“I am proud to lead a union that is united in its resolve to do what’s right for public education, our teaching and working conditions and student learning conditions,” Hammond told 800 delegates at the meeting. “We are educators and it is our work that continues to make Ontario’s education system one of the best in the world.”

“We are facing a government and a school board association that want to roll back a decade of negotiated classroom improvements and compromise the ability of teachers to do what’s best for their students in the current round of central negotiations. Teacher preparation time and professional judgment, for example, are critical to providing students what they need to succeed.”

“In 2012, ETFO members took a principled stand against Bill 115 to protect the fundamental rights of all working people. In 2015, we are taking a principled stand to stop the erosion of teacher professionalism that is a pillar of Ontario’s education system.”

Hammond, who served as an ETFO vice-president from 2004-2007 and as first vice-president from 2007 to 2009, was elected to the provincial Executive in 2003. He has been a teacher in Hamilton-Wentworth for 27 years and has taught physical education and health from Junior Kindergarten to grade 8. He served the Hamilton-Wentworth ETFO Teacher Local as chief negotiator and grievance officer for five years.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario represents 76,000 elementary public school teachers and education professionals across the province and is the largest teacher federation in Canada.

Statements by the candidates can be read in the Annual Meeting Booklet.

ETFO President Sam Hammond highlights the work of the union over the past year.

President Hammond spoke directly to those who question the democratic nature of unions:

To those critics who suggest unions are not democratic or that we lack transparency, I say pay attention over the next several days. This Annual Meeting is our union democracy at work, and delegates play a central role in that process. You represent your 78,000 colleagues in deciding how our union will move forward.

He later discussed the programs that ETFO has developed and offered this year:

ETFO is one of the best providers of professional learning for educators in Canada. This year, like every year, there were hundreds of professional learning opportunities for our members through conferences, workshops and AQ courses.

We offer amazing opportunities for our members, our ETFO Union School,  . . . and Still we Rise, the ETFO Local Leader Virtual Academy, our Early Years Website, to name but a few.

In July, for example, thousands of members participated in our Summer Academy and many of our sisters took part in the Sisters in the Struggle.

Our members’ values are reflected in the work we do as a union, and that’s why ETFO is an equity leader.

This year, through The Pride House That Kids Built, we helped bring the message to all Ontario elementary students and to all athletes and visitors to the 2015 TORONTO Pan Am Games that sport must be inclusive for all people, especially LGBTQ athletes and youth.

We will continue our work on this issue with the fall release of ETFO’s new LGBTQ Inclusive School Place Starts Here video and accompanying guide for educators which explores homophobia and transphobia in school communities.

This past year, ETFO developed a curriculum guide for teachers from Kindergarten to Grade 8 that introduces First Nations, Métis and Inuit histories and realities in age-appropriate ways.

We also toured Spirit Horse, a powerful play that challenges cultural stereotypes and confronts racism, to schools in Southern Ontario.

ETFO will continue to develop resources and programing to support FNMI education.

It is clear that ETFO does far more than negotiate strong collective agreements!

He later focused on collective bargaining and reminded the delegates of the need to remember the past while we negotiate for the the future. The rights and entitlements which ETFO members enjoy in their collective agreements today weren’t given to us by school boards, OPSBA or the Government, they were fought for by ETFO members standing firm over the years.

There were some incredible success on the bargaining front in the 2014-15 year as the collective action of ETFO members had a significant impact, particularly with the cancellation of EQAO.

Hammond sent a very clear message to the Liberal government by reminding them that ETFO has always been ready and willing to negotiate a fair collective agreement for our members. It’s been almost a year since collective agreements expired:

Why have you allowed OPSBA to control the bargaining agenda and sidetrack negotiations for months now?

He then compared the Liberal government’s education policy to the positions OPSBA has put forward in bargaining:

Education policy is based on the fact that outstanding education systems support teacher professional judgement yet OPSBA wishes to erode this.

The Liberal government introduced Full Day Kindergarten with DECEs and teachers working side by side together to provide the best possible program for our youngest students yet now they want to change this removing DECEs from the classroom for hours a week.

The Liberal government implemented class size caps in the primary grades because they know that lower class sizes are good for students yet now they wish to remove any staffing language from local collective agreements.

The government introduced a regulation that goes a long way to support fair hiring practices by school boards yet OPSBA wants to turn back the clock on this.

He then wondered:

Why is the Liberal government silent when OPSBA comes to the bargaining table with proposals that would undermine all these things? Saying nice things and talking about your partners in education might get you elected. But just saying nice things about wanting to restart bargaining isn’t going to cut it. We need action and a real commitment to negotiate in good faith.

Hammond’s final message to the government and OPSBA was focused on the upcoming September 1st bargaining date:

We expect the parties sitting at that table on September 1 to engage in serious bargaining that will result in a fair central collective agreement for our members that respects our past and the future of publicly funded public education in this province. Otherwise and let me be clear: If that doesn’t happen, then I say to the government and OPSBA you are in for the fight of your lives!

The delegates responded with a spontaneous and lengthy standing ovation.

• To protect the collective bargaining rights of all members.
• To defend publicly-funded public education.
• To serve the needs of the membership.
• To provide for the professional development of members.
• To support international assistance and co-operation.
• To promote the care and protection of the environment.
• To actively engage members in the Federation.
• To promote and protect the health and safety of members.

After adopting the priorities the delegates commenced the debate on constitution amendments.

ETFO staff Lorna Larmour welcomes the delegates to the 2015 ETFO Annual Meeting

The chair of credentials announces the delegate count and Session 1 of the 2015 ETFO Annual Meeting has begun.

Delegates prepared to participate in the 2015 ETFO Annual Meeting.

610 teachers, occasional teachers, education support personnel, education support personnel, and designated early childhood educators from across the Ontario have arrived to debate resolutions and set the union’s direction for the upcoming year.

Delegates from the Lambton Kent Teacher Local.

Vice-President James McCormack introduces ETFO President Sam Hammond to give the President’s Address.

ETFO President Sam Hammond hi-lights the work of the union over the past year.