General Secretary Sharon O’Halloran
At the end of Session 3, prior to departing for the Queen’s Park Rally, General Secretary Sharon O’Halloran delivered her report to delegates.
She began by directing delegates to the information contained in the three reports in their registration packages: the Annual Report, the EWS Report, and the Supplementary Report of the General Secretary. These reports contain detailed information about: the Defense Fund, the Building Fund, fee history, membership breakdown, and an overview of programs and services offered to members and local leaders.
General Secretary O’Halloran noted that “…not only do we have a strong financial base, but we also have a rock solid, united and mobilized membership.”
Next the General Secretary mentioned the 20th Anniversary slogan written by Bruce Jones of the Waterloo Teacher local: “United. Inclusive. Strong.”:
It is refreshing to know that our members see themselves as part of a union that is strong, that strives to be inclusive and believes in the importance of unity and solidarity.
She attributed this development to the legacy of former presidents Phyllis Benedict-Lennox, Emily Noble and David Clegg; General Secretaries Gene Lewis and Victoria Reaume; and current president Sam Hammond and all Executive members in ETFO’s 20 year history since 1998.
We have a proud history of solid and principled leadership both provincially and locally. ETFO is what it is today as a result of everyone’s collective efforts to defend equity, inclusivity and to promote a high quality publicly-funded public education system.
O’Halloran then shared a long list of the Federation’s accomplishments, highlighting in particular our work on social justice and equity issues:
- a multi-year strategy to address anti-black racism;
- an increase in the number of women serving in the role of Chief Negotiator;
- work to identify gaps in implementing ETFO’s employment equity plan, and to increase the number of diverse applicants for positions at ETFO;
- a review of ETFO hiring procedures; and
- a reaffirmed commitment by Executive to ethical investing, and divestment from fossil fuels.
G.S. O’Halloran ended her report by thanking delegates for their contribution to the Federation, and assured them that preparations for the 2019 round of bargaining are well under way.
