Elder Teachers

I remember going to my first Ontario Public School Men's Teachers Association (OPSMTF) meetings in the late '70's.  Yup, in those days our Federations were separated by sex; there also being the Federation of Women Teachers Association (FWTAO).  I recall looking around the room at my fellow teachers, all of them older than I was.  Many of the executive were principals and vice-principals, as they had yet to be legislated out of union affiliation by the government.  I looked up to these teachers as the elders of my occupation.  They were not only experienced teachers, but they understood the strength that collective bargaining gave us.  Many of these teachers had resigned their teaching jobs in December 1973 and participated in a cross-Ontario wildcat strike that set the stage for Bill 100 which would come into effect in 1975.  Bill 100 would give teachers, for the first time, the right to strike and the right to include working conditions in their collective agreements.

Bill 115, passed by the Ontario legislature this September 2012, removes teachers from the Labour Relations Act, outlaws any teacher strike action, and imposes a non-negotiable contract.  This action actually doesn't affect me much.  I'm all set.  I will retire at the end of this year relatively unscathed by this action, but I am not going out without fighting for the future of those teachers, younger, and more vulnerable than I am.  35 years ago, senior teachers did as much for me.  I am now at the end of my career and I am not going to let this action go unchallenged.  After all, I now bear the standard of the elder teacher.