ETFO reaches tentative agreement at Teacher/Occasional Teacher Central Table

TORONTO, ON – The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has reached a tentative central agreement for its 80,000 teacher and occasional teacher members with the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association and the Ontario government.

“After 14 months of central bargaining, we’re pleased to be able to bring forward a tentative agreement to our teacher and occasional teacher members that protects their collective agreement entitlements and also addresses key bargaining goals,” says ETFO President Karen Brown. “This has been the longest round of central bargaining in ETFO’s history, but we persisted. We remained focused on getting government cuts off the table and on addressing members’ working conditions, which are students’ learning conditions.”

Details of the agreement will be shared with ETFO teacher and occasional teacher members on Thursday, November 23, after a meeting with their local presidents and chief negotiators. A ratification vote is being scheduled; details of the vote will be shared with members once they are confirmed.

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ETFO responds to Ontario government’s fall economic statement

TORONTO, ON – Despite expected growing surpluses over the next few years, the Ford government continues to underfund public education in Ontario. The fall economic statement delivered today ignores the needs of students and educators, and is another missed opportunity to undo damaging cuts to public education.

“In its 2023 budget, the Ford government had the opportunity to strengthen public education in Ontario, but chose, instead, to make cuts to services that impact student success and well-being,” says Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) President Karen Brown. “And now, with its fall economic statement, we’re seeing the same refusal to prioritize public education. They must reverse the cuts and deliver the funding Ontario students deserve.”

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ETFO members’ 95 per cent strike mandate sends resounding message to government to start bargaining seriously

TORONTO, ON – Today, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) announced that its teacher and occasional teacher members voted 95 per cent in favour of central strike action.

“This strong strike mandate sends a very clear message to the government,” says ETFO President Karen Brown. “Our members have been working for over a year without a contract, and their patience has run out. We need the government to stop stalling and start negotiating seriously on our members’ key priorities, like providing more supports for students with special needs, acknowledging the staffing crisis in education, putting a fair compensation offer on the table, and addressing violence in schools.”

This strike mandate does not necessarily mean that ETFO members will be engaging in work-to-rule strike action or heading to picket lines at this time. Negotiations will continue at ETFO’s Teacher/Occasional Teacher Central Table.

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Telephone Town Hall on Violence in Schools

On Wednesday, October 25 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (EST), ETFO will be holding a telephone town hall meeting on violence in schools. Members will receive advice about how to engage in violence-related work refusals in compliance with health and safety legislation, and ETFO’s new Checklist for Violence resource will be shared and reviewed. Results of ETFO’s 2023 All-Member Violence Survey will also be discussed.

Members who would like to participate in this town hall must pre-register here.

Note: Members who do not pre-register will not be able to attend the town hall meeting. However, an audio file of the meeting will be available to all members on ETFO Secure as of Monday, October 30.

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ETFO responds to Premier Ford’s comments that put 2SLGBTQ+ students at risk

This past weekend, Premier Doug Ford made it clear that he has no idea what “school boards actually do” when he dismissed their law-abiding efforts to protect 2SLGBTQ+ students’ rights. In an attempt to deflect from the ongoing Greenbelt scandal, he made dangerous, inflammatory remarks that put students, educators, and others at risk of great harm.

In a perfect climate, all students go home to a safe and supportive environment, but we know this isn’t the case for all. Teachers and other education workers work every single day to ensure the safety of all students in schools across the province. Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) members work each day to ensure quality public education that may include resources that support 2SLGTBQ+ students and their families.

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ETFO files for conciliation in effort to reach fair agreements

TORONTO, ON – Given the unacceptably slow pace of bargaining, earlier today the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) advised school board agency and government representatives that the Federation would be applying for conciliation with the Minister of Labour for its two central tables – teacher/occasional teacher and education worker.

“Over the past year, ETFO’s central bargaining team has attempted to resolve key issues to secure a fair deal for its teacher, occasional teacher, and education worker members. But after a full year of bargaining without sufficient progress and negotiations at a standstill, the Federation is filing for conciliation,” says ETFO President Karen Brown. “Our members have been incredibly patient, but their patience has run out.”

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ETFO to hold central strike votes at all-member meetings

TORONTO, ON – Given the lack of sufficient progress being made at the central bargaining table, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) will hold in-person meetings to conduct central strike votes and address bargaining issues. These all-member meetings will be held across the province from mid-September to mid-October.

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ETFO celebrates 25th anniversary at its Annual Meeting from August 14 to 17

TORONTO, ON – Close to 700 public elementary educators will attend the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) between August 14 and 17, 2023, at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel.

ETFO’s first annual meeting was held 25 years ago in 1998. At that meeting, ETFO was formed—a new union that brought together the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario and the Ontario Public School Teachers’ Federation. Since its formation, ETFO has been able to win many improvements in working conditions, defend members’ rights, make equity and social justice a key priority, and protect public education.

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ETFO files unfair labour practice complaint against Ford government for failing to bargain in good faith

TORONTO, ON – The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board against the government over its refusal to bargain in good faith.

ETFO’s complaint, filed on August 8, 2023, cites that the government violated its obligation under bargaining legislation to negotiate in good faith when on July 28, 2023, it released Program/Policy Memorandum 168: Reading Instruction and Early Reading Screening (PPM 168).

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Joint Statement: Ford Conservative government policy fails students, undermines collective bargaining, and threatens to contravene collective agreements

TORONTO, ON – The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), the unions representing more than 125,000 teachers and education workers in publicly funded schools across Ontario, have released the following statement in response to the new Policy/Program Memorandum 168 – Reading Instruction and Early Reading Screening (PPM 168), which was released Friday without notice by the Ford Conservative government.

Minister of Education Stephen Lecce has repeatedly claimed that “stability is critical to Ontario students,” but his government continues to introduce sweeping changes without providing the necessary time and resources for proper implementation. These changes will violate collective agreements when the new requirements mandated through policy memorandum are implemented, ignoring the collective bargaining rights of the professionals who care for and teach students across Ontario.

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