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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday December 12, 2008 - 19 Public elementary teachers reject provincial offer Awaiting strategies needed to resume bargaining with board By Tim Whitnell METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP Disappointment, confusion, frustration and anger. Those are the feelings that the head of the public elementary teachers' union in Halton believes her membership is experiencing after failing to reach agreement with the province on the framework for a new contract. In an interview earlier this week, Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) Halton chapter president Maureen Weinberger said the 2,000 teachers she represents, among the 73,000 public elementary teachers in Ontario, will now have to wait to learn what strategies will be needed to resume bargaining at the school board level. The teachers' collective agreements expired Aug. 31, 2008. Weinberger said representatives of the 63 public elementary teachers and occasional teachers union locals across the province will hear from ETFO Ontario President David Clegg to find out where they go from here. "Bargaining is never easy, emotions run high. It's highly stressful and very difficult. There are probably 73,000 different opinions on how we should bargain," said Weinberger. Clegg and reps from the Ontario Public School Boards Association (OPSBA) met "Bargaining is never easy, emotions run high. It's highly stressful and very difficult. There are probably 73,000 different opinions on how we should bargain." Maureen Weinberger, president Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, Halton Chapter last weekend but were unsuccessful in talks on a four-year framework deal offered by the Ministry of Education, and already agreed upon by all of Ontario's other teachers' unions. In a news release, the education ministry said ETFO and OPSBA, the latter negotiating on behalf of the province, turned down an $800-million increase in compensation and program enhancements by 2012-13, including a 12.55 per cent salary increase over four years. "I am very disappointed that ETFO and OPSBA were unable to reach a provincial framework agreement. We truly value elementary teachers and school boards, and I encourage them to try to work together for the benefit of our students," said Education Minister Kathleen Wynne. "That original offer was still on the table six months after it was first tabled, despite the significant economic changes that have occurred since then." One deadline passed at the end of November, with an extension resulting in the ultimately unsuccessful talks last weekend. Now, the ministry is offering the elementary teachers salary funding of four per cent over a two-year agreement. Clegg has maintained there is a $711 per student funding gap between elementary and secondary school students and that that is ETFO's prime concern, not wages, telling The Oakville Beaver in October that it is a possible province-wide strike issue. "Our original intent had been to completely eliminate the gap in teacher working conditions. Given the current economic climate, we modified both our goal and our timeline," Clegg said on ETFO's website. "OPSBA has stated in the press that ETFO's proposal would leave the boards with a $260-million shortfall. That is simply not true. ETFO's offer was within the financial parameters set by the government. The government did not dispute the costing of our proposal and was prepared to support it," he added. "To have rejected such an offer is indefensible and irresponsible. As the result of the monumental blunder made by OPSBA, we are now faced with the prospect of negotiating two-year collec- tive agreements," said Clegg. OPSBA is a voluntary association of school boards without any legal mandate in collective bargaining. "We understand what's going on," said Weinberger. "We're trying to be reasonable but we're going to bargain hard because we represent 73,000 teachers." The Halton chapter ETFO president said job security appears to be less an issue in Halton as it is one of only three school boards across Ontario that has increasing student enrolment, but that is only part of the equation, she said. "If other boards are looking at layoffs, that's something we have to look at." In a news release, Clegg said the ETFO proposed a zero-per-cent salary increase in the fourth year of an agreement. He said it would have saved the boards tens of millions of dollars, money, he said, could have been reinvested in hiring 1,500 new teachers across Ontario. Clegg said such a move would increase the number of specialist teachers to provide more comprehensive learning experiences for children, resulted in fewer overcrowded classrooms in the junior and intermediate divisions, provided a potential solution to address the closing of schools in small communities and established a common standard for enhanced maternity leave benefits. Good until December 24th · 2 Payments On Us* · 0% Financing on select 2009 models FIRST 2 PAYMENTS ON US* OAK-LAND FORD EMPLOYEE PRICING! 2008 FORD F150 FOOSE SALE PRICE FIRST 2 PAYMENTS ON US* 2008 FUSION SEL 2.3L I4 engine, auto climate control, keyless remote, power moonroof, 6-disc CD, fog lamps, message centre. 21,729 kms. Stk. #A1616. 2005 FOCUS ZX4 SE Auto, sedan, air conditioning, CD, liquid grey metallic, 5 month/ 5000 km. power train warranty. 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