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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, August 30, 2012 · 6 The Oakville Beaver The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 905-631-6095 Divide and conquer? Editor's Note: The following opinion piece was filed with The Oakville Beaver by Matt Moir, a teacher with the Halton District School Board. Moir has previously taught at Gary Allan and Abbey Park high schools in Oakville, as well as at Lester B. Pearson High School in Burlington. ack to school is steeped in anxiety this year, as rumors of legislated contracts and picket lines are swirling in the teacher community. Four teachers' unions representing thousands of teachers and support workers in schools from across the province have not signed new deals with the Liberal government, and time is running out to come to an agreement. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) -- the union that represents secondary teachers in Halton -- has deemed contracts that have been signed by other teachers' unions and the Dalton McGuintyled government `unacceptable', and appears confident that its members will reject similar deals. Solidarity among the members of the union, however, may be more fragile than it seems. I have been a teacher in the Halton District School Board for nearly four years, and over that time period a growing divide seems to have emerged between newer and more experienced teachers. Due in large part to the difficulty recent graduates have had in finding a job in the profession, younger teachers appear more amenable to compromise on a variety of issues than their more grizzled peers. It will be interesting to see how this dynamic presents itself during these increasingly turbulent labour disagreements. Earlier this year, the McGuinty government was able to avoid tumultuous labour strife with one of the province's largest teachers' union by making a deal with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA). The key aspect to this agreement was a compromise made over a wage freeze: teachers accepted a 1.5 per cent pay cut (in the form of three unpaid professional development days) in exchange for young teachers being able to continue moving up the pay grid. This is a good deal for teachers new to the profession. Freezing the pay grid, of course, would have been utterly devastating for young teachers (and would probably result in an exodus of talented young professionals from the teaching ranks), but a small pay cut that still allows them to move up the grid is a totally reasonable compromise. I've spoken to a number of younger elementary and secondary teachers in various boards across the GTA, and each of them have said that they would much rather sign a deal and get on with the academic year than get caught up in a nasty and unnecessary battle with the government. The question that surfaces, though, is whether or not older teachers will be as acquiescent. There are always exceptions to the rule, but in my experience, older teachers are far more ideologically inclined to embrace a union model of seniority. This is entirely understandable considering that many of the veteran teachSee Unclear page 8 Guest Column Neil Oliver Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West David harvey Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief Daniel Baird Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor Riziero Vertolli Photography Director Sandy Pare Business Manager RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association MARK DILLS Director of Production Manuel garcia Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Website www.oakvillebeaver.com The OakvilleBeaver is a division of Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: B United Way of Oakville ATHENA Award Eric riehl / OAKVILLE BEAVER / @halton_photog SWEET TREATS: From left to right, Joelle Forbes, Mike Stefan, Cathy Cavero, Alex Stefan and Haley Fife held their fifth lemonade stand in the last four years last week on Towne Boulevard in support of the Oakville & Milton Humane Society. Selling lemonade, cupcakes and other treats at 50¢ apiece, they raised $108 this year, bringing their total to nearly $500. The Boss delivers with a night of music and magic I t was a night of music and magic. It was a night that had the uplifting feel of an old-time religious revival, a travelling salvation show. It was a gathering of the brotherhood of Bruce, the sisterhood of Springsteen -- combined, awash in charismatic and communal love, we were the brethren of The Boss. It was on the bucket list, to see Bruce Springsteen and his beloved E Street Band in concert. So, when tickets went on sale, one morning so many misty months ago, I jumped online, fully expecting to be shut out in the rush by fanatical followers. Alas, my nimble fingers crossed the keyboard and came away with super seats. Last Friday, we trekked into Toronto. Dined downtown. Then headed over to the Rogers Centre. Honestly, we didn't fully know what to expect. Of course, Springsteen's larger-than-life reputation for live shows preceded him. We knew that it would be a marathon and that the crowd would be peppered with celebrities and packed with diehards. But we had no idea what he'd be playing considering he's built a bit of a back-catalogue since his first album came out in 1973, and he's not one to shy away from mixing things up. Pre-concert, we were standing in the beer line when the crowd roared. They'd seen him, Brother Bruce, waving to the cameras, a wave projected onto the stadium's big screen. He was coming on, earlier than expected. A guy behind me, noticing I was antsy, not wanting to miss the opening, told me to relax. A veteran of a bazillion Springsteen concerts, he said Bruce always lets the crowd have a peek before actually coming Andy Juniper on and, he swore, we had a half hour to get to our seats. Suddenly, the opening chords of Working on the Highway. Well, the guy shouted, I guess he's mixing it up tonight. To love an artist, there must be a connection. It was obvious from the outset that Springsteen has connected with the hearts and souls of his fans; he's been doing this for 40-plus years, with immeasurable impact (an American commentator once suggested the U.S. was unable to move on from the events of 9/11 until Springsteen addressed the tragedy with the release of The Rising). In front of us at the concert stood (for the entire epic concert) a family of four, shouting, clapping, dancing, singing to every song, the age gap between parents and kids lost in the music. My connection with The Boss runs deep. A friend introduced me to him back in our youth. Musically speaking, at the time I was (thankfully) venturing out of metal and into what was known as the New Wave, a genre miles removed from The Boss. I balked and (gasp) snootily dismissed Springsteen with nary a listen. Fast forward years later, I was a perfectly happily married man writing a novel about a perfectly unhappy man whose life was unraveling before him. Each day, to get in the proper dark frame of mind, I'd play Springsteen's just-released Tunnel of Love, wherein the artist shared his insights (intellectual, emotional) into the dissolution of his first marriage. I fell in love with The Boss. And I've remained in love ever since, through every subsequent album (all 10 of them). It was an entertaining, inspiring night. A night in which a guy who truly hates crowds, found himself at one with the crowd, being wooed and wowed by the preacher prowling the stage -- by his timeless music, message, and magic. Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found on Facebook at www.facebook.com, or followed at www.twitter. com/thesportjesters.