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`School spirit' eroded Continued from page 1 Teachers still fighting back Continued from page 1 3 · Wednesday, January 16, 2013 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com "The purpose of this event is to provide students with a sense of empowerment and with an outlet to express their passion for extracurricular activities," said Nivetha Govindaraju, Abbey Park High School student and co-founder of the OOSS, in a news release. "Since their suspension, school spirit has diminished dramatically and our learning environment is no longer the same. As a senior, this is not how I want to remember my last year of high school." Sport Your Extra-Curricular Day first took place at Abbey Park in December, organized by the students who formed the OOSS. Since then, the organization has reached 10,000 members on Facebook in high schools across the province. Today's event includes students in Oakville's Abbey Park, Oakville Trafalgar, Iroquois Ridge and White Oaks high schools, along with schools from Niagara to Ajax and as far north as North Bay. OAKVILLE BEAVER FILE PHOTO speaking out: Abbey Park students -- top, from left, Colin Nowers, Lydia Gibson, and Dennis Xu. Middle row, Connor Challis, Eisha Ahmed, David Zilkey. In front, Zdravko Ivankovic, Mike Scolaro, and Nivetha Govindaraju during a student protest in December. Students will protest today, too. CUSTOMIZE... 25 "We're disappointed by the Ontario Labour Relation Board's decision, particularly because it was involving the Labour Relations Act," said ETFO Halton president Marg Macfarlane. "We've always wanted to be able to follow the Ontario Labour Relations Act. It's concerning us because the government chose to ignore the act with respect to bargaining and now has chosen to make use of the act when it would be helpful for their purposes... It's been a rather selective use of the Labour Relations Act." The OSSTF District 20 (Halton) president Brad Fisher was also disappointed. "This is a huge blight on our democracy because Bill 115, section 14, prohibited the Ontario Labour Relations Board from considering constitutional issues as they normally would have." "Now, this will require the courts to look at it because this government has hamstrung the Ontario Labour Relations Board for its own political purposes," he said. With school-day protests averted, the teachers' fight against the Province is not yet finished -- Fisher said the OSSTF will pursue the matter in court and teachers will hold mass rallies. "The political protest against this government will continue, but we will not be doing a political protest during the school day. It was made quite clear by the OLRB they consider it illegal," he said. Macfarlane said the ETFO will review how to move forward. Parents and students should not expect schools to return to pre-Bill 115. "Given what has happened and what is happen- ing now and what has just occurred, all of it means, we're certainly agreeing that we are not going on with business as usual. It cannot continue as business as usual," Macfarlane said. Fisher said the government can impose laws and contracts, but not goodwill, and much of what teachers do in school, and outside of classes, are goodwill actions not required by contracts. "Many of the things are done out of the goodwill and good hearts of the teachers and many teachers now feel they'd have to reconsider whether they continue to do some of the things they used to," he said. "You can't impose goodwill." Fisher said the labour dispute is not about money and that the OSSTF attempted to negotiate and offered zero per cent wage increases as early as last February. "What infuriates us is the lack of collective bargaining rights and the right to be treated with respect and to sit down as adults to work out what the problems are," he said. Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn had a different view. "I heard a lot of upset comments from parents of students in the public school board Friday after the ETFO's illegal walkout was cancelled. Parents don't understand why the elementary teachers union spent only one hour at the negotiating table before walking out while other unions, such as the Catholic Teachers Union, negotiated and got a deal to avoid labour disruptions for their students. "I want the teachers doing what they do best and ask the union leadership to settle their disagreement in the courts and avoid disrupting parents and students like they did last week." 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