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Thursday, Septem ber 17, 2015 - The IFP - H alton H ills - w w w .theifp.ca Page 19 Federal election day is Monday, October 19. Are you registered to vote? Most voters are already registered. But if you've moved recently or are planning a move before election day, you may need to update your address. With an up-to-date registration, you'll get: • a personalized voter information card that tells you when and where to vote • faster service at the polls Check and update your registration at elections.ca today, or call 1-800-463-6868 ( TTY 1-800-361-8935). Elections Canada has all the information you need to be ready to vote. Moved recently? Make sure you're ready to vote. 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She wants to impose a quick deal, not a reasonable deal for elemen- tary teachers, to help Mr. Trudeau's chances in the federal election," ETFO President Sam Hammond alleged in a press release, Monday. Provincial negotiators and OPSBA recently reached separate tentative con- tract agreements with the Ontario Sec- ondary Schools Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) and the Ontario English Cath- olic Teachers' Association (OECTA). However, neither deal has been rati- fied by those teacher groups. The tentative three-year deals re- portedly include a small wage increase, an extra professional development day and retain current class sizes and teach- er preparation time provisions. ETFO remains without a tentative deal. It represents 78,000 elementary public school teachers and occasional teachers across the province. All On- tario teachers and school support staff have been without a contract since Aug. 31, 2014. Last Friday (Sept. 11), the Liberal government and OPSBA walked away from the central bargaining table, said ETFO. Ontario Education Minister Liz Sandals said Monday that the province is ready to get back to bargaining. "We offered a complete settlement package, which includes a number of things the ETFO explicitly asked for … We're certainly willing to discuss where it needs to be a little bit different (from the other deals)," she said. Hammond explained his union's position. "ETFO is not prepared to accept a flawed deal that does not address our members' needs and the needs of public elementary students in the long term," said Hammond. "A student who is six years old has different educational needs than a student who is 16. Any- one with children knows that's true. As a result, elementary teachers' working needs will be different than secondary teachers', so the imposition of a cookie- cutter deal just won't work." Hammond stressed that the issues under discussion are related to teacher working conditions and student learn- ing conditions, not salary. "We are prepared to escalate our strike action if there is no change on the part of the government and OPSBA…" In May, ETFO began an adminis- trative work-to-rule campaign. As of Sept. 1, ETFO increased those sanctions instructing its teachers not to engage in certain activities such as participat- ing in field trips, collecting funds for school-related activities or participat- ing in fundraising activities, responding to any electronic communication from the principal or vice-principal outside of the instructional day except where there is a safety issue involved, collecting or Elementary teachers and Province not at the bargaining table By Tim Whitnell Metroland Media Group distributing to students any paperwork required by the school or school board, or attending open houses or meet the teacher nights outside of the instruc- tional day. ETFO has indicated it might soon add more sanctions, which could in- clude the withdrawal of teacher partici- pation in school extra-curricular activi- ties. Regardless of the stalled status of bargaining at the central table, talks continue at the local school board level with various employee groups on a host of non-monetary issues. In Halton, the public school board bargaining team has meetings ar- ranged with local ETFO representatives on Sept. 22 and 28. ETFO in Halton rep- resents close to 2,900 teachers, serving almost 40,000 pupils. Talks with local public high school teacher reps (OSSTF) continue on Sept. 17 and 30, and Oct. 1. The OSSTF rep- resents 1,300 permanent full- and part- time high school teachers at the Halton District School Board. The board also has more separate meetings arranged with representatives of its occasional teachers, early child- hood educators, teaching assistants, office staff, educational assistants, cus- todians and its professional care work- ers (social workers, child care, personal support workers). -- with files from the Toronto Star