The Official Newsletter of the Occasional Teachers’ Bargaining Unit OSST District 12
The Call Ou
t
Volume 12, Issue 6
June 2014
Introducing
Your 2014-2016 Executive
The results of the vote for the 2014-16 Executive returned the previous Executive members
to their positions for the next two years. Congratulations to the successful candidates.
From Left to Right: James Whitaker, Linda Bartram, Colegride M. Browne, Lilllian Speedie (with Owen),
Jennifer Mills, Ann Burke, Vincent Zambrano, Paul Bocking. Absent: Shakeel Ahad
For complete election results go to the OTBU D12 website. www.otbud12.com
Page 2
OT Renewal 2014-2015
OTBU members should have received an email from the TDSB. This email is important as it gives details as to how
to renew your place on the Occasional Teacher Roster for 2014-2015. For your convenience and information, please
note the following points in the Board email.
In order to remain on the OT list you are required to complete the renewal at www.tdsb.on.ca. YOU MUST RENEW
ONLINE.
To access the on-line renewal form you will need the last six digits of your employee number and your network
password.
If you do not meet the requirements as per our Collective Agreement and were not on approved leave, your renewal
may not be accepted and you may be removed from the OT Roster prior to the commencement of the school year.
After June 30th any requests for late renewal must be submitted via the online Reinstatement Request Website found
on the SFE website. This request page will be online between August 1 and August 16th. Please note email for phone
reinstatement request will not be acknowledged. Late renewals will be considered a reinstatement request and will be
renewed in the fall based on the Board’s needs.
Renewal Process
To access the renewal form on the web from home (if you are logging in from a school computer and are already on
the TDSB web page, follow the instructions below from item #6 on).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Go to www.tdsb.on.ca
Click on Staff on the orange toolbar at the top of the page.
Read the TDSB Login Warning page and click on OK.
Enter the last six digits of your employee number and your password and click on Login. If you need
to reset or have forgotten your network password, please click on change/forgot your password and
refer to the detailed instructions and options available there.
On the welcome to the MyTDSB page click on TDSBWEB (first link selection at the top of the
page) where you will be taken to the internal TDSBWEB page.
On the white toolbar along the top of the TDSBWEB screen, click on Employee Service, forms.
If you experience difficulties logging in, please contact the Client service Desk at 416-395-4357, option 5, from 7:30
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday.
A Reminder and an Invitation
All OTBU members are invited to join the OSSTF contingent marching in the annual
Labour Day Parade
Monday, September 1, 2014
Details and a meeting place will be posted on the OTBU website as they become available.
Page 3
From the desk of Linda Bartram...
THE OTBU ELECTIONS
I want to thank all of you for your support in the recent election. Your
confidence in the OTBU Executive team is important as we head into
what may be a very difficult round of contract negotiations. The team
you have elected is the best you could hope for. They are:
Vince Zambrano your 1st Vice President and Chief Negotiator and
gifted organizer of all things Constitutional and pretty much
everything else.
Ann Burke your 2nd Vice President and PD and event organizer, art
director of the Call Out. If you are the victim of allegations by
students or administrators, you want Ann Burke to have your back.
Shak Ahad your trustworthy and principled Treasurer
deals with all things financial for the bargaining unit as
well as assisting with layout of the Call Out and Health
and Safety.
Lillian Speedie your Secretary keeps records of
Executive meetings and General meetings and brings
valuable union experience to our Bargaining Unit.
Paul Bocking your Executive Officer who created and
manages our email list, compiles the working conditions
survey, and is our political action and human rights rep.
Coleridge Browne is your Executive Officer who
willingly and cheerfully organizes registration at General
Membership meetings, takes care of office maintenance
and schleps whatever we need to wherever we need it.
Jennifer Mills is your Executive Officer is a past
president of the OTBU and also runs the highly
successful Internationally Trained Teachers workshops
and co-chairs P.D.
Jamie Whitaker is our newest Executive Officer who as
soon as he joined us, stepped up to become the
Webmaster of our beautiful new Website.
Your OTBU Executive will continue to represent
members, protect the Collective Agreement and the rights
of members. We will continue to provide you with timely
information on the website and by e-mail if we have your
personal email address. If we don’t, please send it to us.
Our Collective Agreement expires on August 31, 2014.
We will be negotiating a new Collective Agreement
under Bill 122 as early as this fall and I believe they will
be very difficult negotiations. We need to be able to reach
you immediately as negotiations unfold.
THE NEW NORMAL – REGULATION 274 TWO
YEARS IN
The intention of the Regulation was to make hiring
practices for LTOs and contract positions fairer and
more transparent. Has this been accomplished? Boards
and principals hate the Regulation because it attempts
to limit their power and eliminate nepotism. The TDSB
has followed most of the requirements of the
Regulation. They created an OT list by seniority and an
LTO list, as required by the Reg. But does hiring in the
TDSB comply with the Reg.? In some cases it does:
the 5 most senior OTs who are on the LTO list, are
qualified and apply for a posted job are interviewed.
Posted is the key word here, because what principals
have discovered is if they simply call in the person of
their choice for what should be an advertised LTO,
such as a MAT Leave, and keep them in the job for 10
days, Voila! It is an LTO which the Board argues does
not have to be advertised. The OTBU has grieved the
hiring practices that do not conform to the Regulation.
However it is detective work. These illegally
established LTOs are hard to detect. We only find them
when people report them to the union. If you think an
LTO exists that should have been posted, but was not,
let the union know. Regulation 274 is presently under
review by the government. The interviews of union
leaders, boards and principals’ associations were
completed this spring, but there is still no word if and
how Regulation 274 will be altered to make it work
“better” and for whom.
Please Note:
Postings for 2014-2015 LTOs will come out on the
following dates:
Round 1 opens August 13 (9:00 a.m.) closes August
19, 2014 (12:00)
Round 2 opens August 20 (9:00 a.m.) closes August
26, 2014 (12:00)
Round 3 opens August 25 (9:00 a.m.) closes August
29, 2014 (12:00)
See the OTBU web site TDSB Job Posting webpage for
further info.
Page 4
Special report to the OTBU Membership
By: Vincent Zambrano, OTBU Chief Negotiator
An unprecedented and extraordinary meeting of
the Provincial Assembly (Special Meeting of the
Provincial Assembly - SMPA) took place May
31st. Present at this event were all of our
delegates who had attended the regularly
scheduled Annual Meeting of the Provincial
Assembly (AMPA) in March of this year. The
Provincial Assembly is the legislative body that
governs OSSTF/FEESO. Delegates meet each
year to set policy and provide direction to the
elected Provincial Executive.
against the government or their local Boards in
support of contract demands.
This extraordinary meeting, the first of its kind
in the 90-year history of OSSTF was specifically
called to discuss OSSTF’s negotiations strategy
for the upcoming round of bargaining.
Your OTBU Executive will be forwarding this
bulletin (#4) and other subsequent bulletins
directly to those OTBU members who have
provided their non-TDSB email address to the
Bargaining Unit. If you have not provided your
personal email address to our office, please do so.
This year, negotiations will take place under Bill
122, The School Boards Collective Bargaining
Act. This new Act outlines how negotiations will
take place between all the education workers’
unions (OSSTF, ETFO, OECTA, CUPE, etc)
the Provincial Government and Boards of
Education. There will be negotiations at a
central table undertaken by OSSTF Provincial
negotiators and negotiations at a local table,
where, for example, the OTBU and the TDSB
will bargain directly.
OSSTF is ready with a negotiations strategy
which was outlined and discussed at the special
meeting. One of the major decisions that the
SMPA delegates made was to vote on the
possibility of levying a ‘supplemental fee’. This
supplemental fee would be used to support
members across the province who are asked to
employ sanctions
More information is provided to the
membership by means of Negotiations
Bulletin #4 which is available on the
MEMBERS ONLY section of the
Provincial OSSTF web site.
Information meetings for OTBU members will
also be taking place as we go forward with the
strategy. The agenda, time and location of these
official OSSTF information meetings will be
announced to the membership, most likely in the
fall. There will also be telephone Town Hall
meetings as required.
The next round of negotiations has begun even as
the end of this academic year is in sight.
Have a good summer and be prepared. Stay
tuned, check the OTBU web site. Your Executive
will do its utmost to keep you informed.
Page 5
How to Apply for Employment Insurance Benefits
To find out if you can receive EI benefits, you must submit an application online. The URL for Service
Canada is www.servicecanada.gc.ca
What information do I need to apply?
To complete the online EI application form, you will need the following personal information:
Your Social Insurance Number (SIN) – if your SIN begins with a 9, you will need to provide proof of
your immigration status and work permit; your mother's maiden name; your mailing and residential
addresses, including the postal codes. If you do not have a usual place of residence, you must apply in
person at your local Service Canada Centre and; your complete banking information, including the
financial institution name and number, the branch number, and your account number, if you want to
apply for direct deposit.
Note:
After you complete the online EI application form, you will receive a confirmation number
electronically as proof that Service Canada has received your application. Be sure to keep this number
for future reference.
The TDSB submits ROEs (Records of Employment) electronically to Service Canada. You do not
need to request copies of your Records of Employment from the TDSB unless your ROE is inaccessible
on the Service Canada website approximately 2 weeks after the end of the school year.
When will I know whether or not I am entitled to receive EI benefits?
·
If you are entitled to receive benefits, you should receive your first payment within 28 days of the date
your claim was received by Service Canada.
If you are not entitled to receive benefits, Service Canada will notify you by letter or by telephone to
explain why.
If you disagree with the Service Canada decision, you have the right to request reconsideration. Contact
Provincial OSSTF for assistance (416-751-8300).
The Reference Code you must use for filing Regular Claims for E.I.
Benefits if your last employment was with a School Related Employer
only is:
3511012014201406
If you cannot access your ROE two weeks after your last day of work, please contact
TDSB payroll at 416-395-9642.
A
G
M
B
U
S
I
N
E
S
S
A
G
M
S
O
C
I
A
L
2
0
1
4
Survey on Working Conditions & School Safety
Occasional Teachers Bargaining Unit, OSSTF District 12 Toronto
The survey was sent to 1101 members for whom the OTBU has personal emails, representing 61% of
the bargaining unit of approximately 1800 members. 463 members completed the survey (a response
rate of 42%). Last year the survey was
Total number of years
2014
2013
completed by 430 members with a response
employed
as
an
Response
Response
rate of 41%.
Occasional Teacher:
Less than one
0.7%
0.9%
1-5
37.8%
42.6%
6-10
35.6%
30.2%
11-15
15.3%
14.4%
81% Employed as Daily Occasional
16-20
2.6%
3.3%
19% Employed as Long Term Occasional
Over 21
8%
8.6%
17% Internationally Trained
What is your age?
2014
2013
77% Primary employment is as OT
24 and under
0.2%
0.5%
25 to 34
13.8%
15.3%
35 to 44
13.6%
14%
45 to 54
11.5%
8.6%
55 to 64
30.5%
34%
65 to 74
30.2%
27.7%
75 or older
0.2%
0%
Who Responded?
55% Female, 44% Male
50% Retired
13% Have benefits from another job
Member Work Patterns
Average Work Week Per Month
M
a
y
2
0
1
4
Satisfaction with work availability
0-1 Days/
Week
2-3 Days/
Week
3-4 Days/
Week
4-5 Days/
Week
Typically
Satisfied
Typically
Insufficient
Unavailable
to work
Sep.
55.7%
28.7%
6%
9.7%
September
36.7%
52.4%
11%
Oct.
35%
38.4%
9.1%
17.4%
October
58.1%
33%
8.9%
Nov.
23.5%
40.8%
13.6%
22.1%
November
69.6%
22.2%
8.1%
Dec.
36%
32.6%
12.4%
19%
December
57.3%
33%
9.7%
Jan.
44.5%
29.5%
9.7%
16.2%
January
46.7%
41.1%
12%
Feb.
34.5%
31.3%
13.7%
20.5%
February
60.7%
26.4%
12.8%
Mar.
29.4%
33.9%
16.9%
19.8%
March
62%
26.4%
11.5%
Apr.
18.2%
34.9%
18.9%
28%
April
77.5%
13.9%
8.6%
May
19.2%
26.8%
18.6%
35.3%
May
77.8%
12%
10.2%
Jun.
44%
25.1%
10.3%
20.5%
June
44.2%
35.6%
20.2%
Sources of Daily Occasional Work
Other forms of K-12 teaching
employment
Total
Responses
Elementary OT with TDSB
57
Part Time Contract Teacher
7
Night or Summer School Teacher
28
OT with Toronto Catholic DSB
5
OT with York Region DSB
5
1 Pre-arranged directly with absent teachers
2 School-based preferred lists
3
General calls from Smartfind Express callout
4 Browsing & selecting from Smartfind
Rate your understanding of Reg. 274
Understand very well
29.6%
OT with Peel Region DSB
10
Somewhat understand
56%
OT with Durham Region DSB
3
Unclear to me
14.3%
Not Applicable
359
Greatest Obstacles to obtaining LTO
Do you believe Reg. 274 will improve
your opportunity to obtain an LTO or
contract position?
1 Shortage of LTOs due to reclassification of work
for surplussed contract teachers
Yes
14.1%
No
41.7%
Unsure
44.2%
Evaluating Schools
Atmosphere of Orderliness & Respect - Top 5
2 Favouritism in hiring
3 Hidden LTOs’ through rolling daily OT jobs
4 Not possessing teachables or AQs in demand
5 Successfully answering interview questions
Atmosphere of Orderliness & Respect -Bottom 5
1 RH King Academy
1 Bendale Business & Technical Institute
2 Etobicoke School of the Arts
2 CW Jeffrys Collegiate Institute
3 Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts
3 Emery Collegiate Institute
4 Humberside Collegiate Institute
4 East York Collegiate Institute
5 West Humber Collegiate Institute
5 West Hill Collegiate Institute
Keys GIven - Top 5
Keys GIven - Bottom 5
1 RH King Academy
1 Emery Collegiate Institute
2 Etobicoke Collegiate Institute
2 Westview Centennial Secondary School
3 Bloor Collegiate Institute
3 Martingrove Collegiate Institute
4 Lakeshore Collegiate Institute
4 Leaside High School
5 Malvern Collegiate Institute
5 Western Technical School
Lesson Materials Given - Top 5
Lesson Materials Given - Bottom 5
1 RH King Academy
1 C W Jefferys Collegiate Institute
2 North Toronto Collegiate Institute
2 Birchmount Park Collegiate
3 Humberside Collegiate Institute
3 Emery Collegiate Institute
4 Richview Collegiate Institute
4 Bendale Business & Technical Institute
5 Bloor Collegiate Institute
5 Northern Secondary School
Frequency by which the following obstacles prevent students
from being ready to learn at the start of class
Students Arriving Late
Students are unprepared
1
John Polanyi Collegiate Institute
1 John Polanyi Collegiate Institute
2
Downsview Secondary School
2 Downsview Secondary School
3
Westview Centennial Secondary School
3 Weston Collegiate Institute
4
Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute
4 Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute
5
Central Technical School
5 Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute
Disruption from other students not in the class
Difficulty in calling class to attention
1 Bendale Business and Technical Institute
1 John Polanyi Collegiate Institute
2 John Polanyi Collegiate Institute
2 Downsview Secondary School
3 Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute
3 Northern Secondary School
4 Downsview Secondary School
4 West Hill Collegiate Institute
5 West Hill Collegiate Institute
5 Bendale Business and Technical Institute
Of 463 survey participants, 45 responded (60 responded in 2013) that they had experienced some
form of harassment from a student. Participants were able to identify multiple forms of
harassment at up to three different schools. 12 respondents reported completing the TDSB’s
Workplace Violent Incident Report Form.
Effectiveness of administration support when you have encountered
challenges related to student discipline
When I contact the office during class time to request support from hall monitors or
administrators to remove disruptive students, they arrive promptly:
VERY FREQUENTLY
1
2
3
4
5
RARELY
Agincourt Collegiate Institute
Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute
Earl Haig Secondary School
Etobicoke School of the Arts
RH King Academy
1
2
3
4
5
Central Technical School
Danforth Collegiate & Technical School
East York Collegiate Institute
Western Technical-Commercial School
Northern Secondary School
When I make a complaint (verbally or through a student incident report) on student behaviour to
the school administration, I feel my concerns are taken seriously:
VERY FREQUENTLY
1
2
3
4
5
RARELY
Agincourt Collegiate Institute
RH King Academy
Etobicoke School of the Arts
Albert Campbell Collegiate
Earl Haig Secondary School
1
2
3
4
5
Danforth Collegiate & Technical Institute
Western Technical-Commercial School
George Harvey Collegiate Institute
Bendale Business and Technical Institute
Downsview Secondary School
After I make a complaint, a resolution of the incident of student behaviour is reached:
VERY FREQUENTLY
1
2
3
4
5
Etobicoke School of the Arts
Agincourt Collegiate Institute
Earl Haig Secondary School
Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute
North Toronto Collegiate
RARELY
1
2
3
4
5
Danforth Collegiate & Technical Institute
George Harvey Collegiate Institute
Westview Centennial Secondary School
Central Technical School
Downsview Secondary School
I feel my authority as a teacher is respected and recognized by students at this school:
VERY FREQUENTLY
1
2
3
4
5
RARELY
RH King Academy
Earl Haig Secondary School
Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute
Agincourt Collegiate Institute
Bloor Collegiate Institute
1
2
3
4
5
Westview Centennial Secondary School
Northern Secondary School
Danforth Collegiate & Technical Institute
Western Technical-Commercial School
Central Technical School
I feel unsafe at the school:
VERY FREQUENTLY
1
2
3
4
5
Western Technical-Commercial School
West Hill Collegiate
Cedarbrae Collegiate
Sir Robert Borden Business Technical
Emery Collegiate Institute
RARELY
1
2
3
4
5
A Y Jackson Secondary School
Agincourt Collegiate Institute
Earl Haig Secondary School
Etobicoke School of the Arts
North Toronto Collegiate Institute
4 Most Challenging Issues for Occasional Teachers:
(Note: 2014 Rankings are Identical to 2013 Rankings)
1. Student discipline & administrative support
2. Availability of clear lesson plans and supplies
3. Availability of classroom keys
4. Difficulty obtaining work because of existing school preferred lists
The Executive and the general membership owe a debt of thanks to those members who volunteered to help count the
ballots sent in by our electors. In particular, we would like to thank the Elections Committee of Bruce Silzer, Art Turner
and Joan Stephens. On the 18th of June when the final ballots were counted, Bruce Silzer was unable to attend due to
previous commitments. In his stead, Art Turner and Joan Stephens ran a professional and efficient vote-counting
operation aided by the people pictured below. Thanks to you all.
Left to Right (front) Jane Milligan, David Owen David McWhirter, Art Turner Nadia Lypowecky, Joan Stephens,
Michelle Barraclough, Manfred Netzel, Mike Jasenko.(Back) Malcolm Smart (Scrutineer) , David Enright, David
Hopkins, Frank Cirone, Howard Bernstein.
Paul Elliott has announced that OSSTF/FEESO has donated $100,000 to support the battle being waged by B.C.
Teachers for a fair and just contract settlement.
Editor
David Hopkins
OTBU D12
1708-95 Thorncliffe park Dr
Toronto, ON M4H 1L7
Design & Layout
Shakeel Ahad
Ann Burke
David Hopkins
Contributors
Linda Bartram
Ann Burke
Paul Bocking
David Hopkins
Jamie Whitaker
Vincent Zambrano
Photography (Ann Burke, David Hopkins)
Phone No.: 416-423-3600
Our New Fax No.: 416-981-3388
E-Mail: otbud12@sympatico.ca
Web Site: www.otbud12.com