Honorary Life Member Award Winner, Jim White

Jim White, ETFO Staff

Media Release

Jim White was first elected to the OPSTF Wentworth local executive in 1988, was elected president in 1990 and served his local as president for five terms. Jim was awarded by his local with the Michael Longeway Award for Meritorious Service and Dedication to the Members of OPSTF Wentworth in 1996. Jim became involved at the provincial level of OPSTF by serving four terms as Provincial Executive member, also serving as OTF Governor and CTF delegate. Jim worked diligently as a member of the OPSTF and FWTAO joint executive that worked together to create ETFO, and was elected the first local president of the new Hamilton-Wentworth Teacher Local in 1997.

Jim joined the ETFO staff in 2001, working both in Professional Relations Services and Collective Bargaining Services. He enjoyed his work in assisting members experiencing professional difficulties and was always eager to work with his locals to obtain the best possible collective agreements. He served two terms as Coordinator of Collective Bargaining Services, until his retirement in August 2014. One of Jim’s favourite assignments was his work as staff liaison to the ETFO Annual Meeting. He worked tirelessly with members of the Annual Meeting Committee, staff colleagues and hotel staff, preparing months in advance to ensure a successful Annual Meeting each August.

We will always remember Jim White addressing the delegates at the meeting with announcements each day of the meeting, and then, elegantly dressed in a black tuxedo and celebrating with them at Annual Dinner each year! 

Colleagues and members alike often commented on Jim’s high level of professionalism and diplomacy which he strove to maintain throughout his career. Among the many awards Jim has received, he is especially proud of the Distinguished Service Award from the Hamilton-Wentworth Occasional Teacher Award (2006), the OTF Fellowship from the OTF Board of Governors (2010) and Honorary Life Membership in the Hamilton-Wentworth Teacher Local (2015). He is now very proud to become an Honorary Life Member of ETFO and he will treasure this honour for many years to come.

To say that Jim is an avid golfer may be a bit of an understatement, as many of his colleagues would attest to. He enjoys golf trips with his friends twice yearly to Myrtle Beach, playing hockey three times per week and skiing in the winter. Having just returned from Italy, where he fell in love with the history, the food and the wine, he plans much more travelling in the future.