Liberals hammering teachers much too hard
The Barrie Examiner
Fri Aug 31 2012
Page: A4
Section: Editorial/Opinion
Column: Editorial
O ntario
teachers should not be able to bank sick days and then cash them in upon retirement.
The way to do this is not to allow this benefit when the province, through its school boards, negotiates contracts with teachers' unions.
But once banking sick days is part of a teacher contract, how can the province take them away from teachers?
Premier Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government is trying to eliminate this practice by imposing new contracts, through provincial legislation, on Ontario teachers. It would freeze their wages, cut other benefits and ban strikes or lockouts for the next two years.
Many teachers and their unions have cried foul, claiming the government stopped the collective bargaining process and is simply imposing new contracts -- a violation of their constitutional rights.
McGuinty and Education Minister Laurel Broten say that with many teacher contracts expiring today, and classes beginning Sept. 4, they want to ensure that school begins on time.
Oh, and there's the little matter of the province's $15- billion deficit; without new contracts, the old ones with teachers automatically roll over and give them pay raises and benefits the province says it cannot afford.
Broten says the Putting Students First Act will save the province $2 billion, and avert an expenditure of $473 million this year.
The teachers say they had no intention of striking, and that if the province had negotiated with their unions -- instead of dictating terms -- new deals could have been reached in time.
And many teachers who have supported McGuinty's Liberals for the last nine years understandably feel betrayed by the premier's actions.
How this translates into votes when Vaughan and Kitchener- Waterloo voters go to the polls for Sept. 6 byelections remains to be seen -- especially since two Liberal victories would give McGuinty another majority government and end his need for deal-making with the Tories and New Democrats.
Few Ontario residents, however, have much sympathy for teachers being able to bank sick days and cash them in upon retirement; our teachers already have generous pensions (also collectively bargained, it's worth noting).
Those working in the private sector don't get this pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Teachers do need sick days, probably more than most people. They frequently teach children who should be home in bed, but aren't because of negligent parents or those who won't or can't take a day off work.
So teachers are more prone to catching all the bugs that go around. When they are sick, they should be allowed to stay home -- just like everyone else.
But whether teachers have 26 or 10 sick days a year isn't the point. They should not be allowed to bank them.
Taxpayers cannot afford this type of perk.
The province says eliminating it will erase a $1.7-billion liability for Ontario school boards.
Someone should have done the math on the cost of allowing teachers to bank and cash-in sick days, however, a long time ago.
To take already banked sick days away from teachers is unfair. That they should never have been given them in the first place isn't the point.
Yes, the practise should be stopped in any new teacher contracts.
But McGuinty and Broten are bringing the hammer down harder than necessary. It isn't necessary and will only deepen the substantial rift between teachers and the province.
(c) 2012 Osprey Media Group Inc. All rights reserved.
School boards - CUPE/CCLA press conference
Civil liberties association backs Ontario teachers
Toronto Star
Fri Aug 31 2012
Page: A6
Section: News
Byline: Rob Ferguson Toronto Star
Ontario's teachers have won support from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association as they fight Premier Dalton McGuinty's legislation to impose a wage-freeze contract on them and ban strikes for two years.
It's unconstitutional to take away the right to strike before there's a threat of one, the association said Thursday in announcing it will seek intervener status if the law passes as expected - likely Sept. 10 - and education unions challenge it.
"People's rights are not something to be trifled with," said Sukanya Pillay, director of the association. "We are concerned that this legislation goes too far and violates the civil liberties of all Ontarians."
The minority Liberal government filed a motion to end debate on the bill, send it to a legislative committee for five hours of public hearings next Wednesday and Thursday then hold a final vote on Sept. 10.
Education Minister Laurel Broten repeated assertions that the minority Liberal government is ready to fight any court challenge like one the British Columbia government faced - and lost - with health sector workers on a wage freeze.
"The case is a very different situation than in B.C. where 20 minutes notice was given," she told reporters. "We negotiated for more than 300 hours over six months, we have 55,000 teachers that have signed on."
Broten was referring mainly to members of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, which agreed to a deal that the government is now trying to push on public school teacher unions through its legislation. It would freeze wages, ban strikes and lockouts for at least two years and require teachers to take three unpaid days off in exchange for allowing younger teachers to move up through the salary grid, halving annual sick days to 10 and no longer allowing teachers to cash out unused sick days upon retirement.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which has joined forces with the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation to fight the bill, charged that education workers are "pawns" in next Thursday's crucial by-elections in Vaughan and Kitchener-Waterloo.
"A person's freedom should not be used as an election ploy," CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn said.
None of the unions have threatened an immediate strike, but say labour disruptions cannot be guaranteed for the entire school year given the current tensions.
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said his party will support the bill, even though it is "half a loaf" compared with legislation he proposes for an across-the-board wage freeze for public sector workers. Hudak said the court threat from teachers and the civil liberties association does not worry him. "We have an open court system and they're free to take whatever side they want ... but here's the bottom line. You can't get blood from a stone. We're simply out of money."
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has warned losing a court case could cost taxpayers more than the $190 million McGuinty spent during last October's election to cancel a power plant under construction near Sherway Gardens to keeping four surrounding ridings in Liberal hands.
"People are very tired. They are weary of paying the price for this government's desperate drive for majority power," Horwath said in question period, hinting at next week's byelections.
If the Liberals hold Vaughan and gain Kitchener-Waterloo from the Tories, they will have a de facto majority in the 107-seat legislature.
(c) 2012 Torstar Corporation
Ontario bill to freeze teacher's pay unconstitutional, critics say
CBC.CA News
Thu Aug 30 2012, 12:37pm ET
Section: Canada
With the Liberal government's bill to ban strikes and freeze the pay of Ontario's teachers moving towards final passage in the legislature, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association has warned it will challenge the legislation in court.
The CCLA said at a news conference in Toronto on Thursday that Bill 115 is unconstitutional. "A forced labour agreement is no more constitutional than a forced confession," said lawyer Stephen Barrett.
The CCLA said it will seek intervener status in any legal challenge to the bill.
"We are concerned that this bill violates the right to meaningful collective bargaining. Why is it necessary, for instance, remove the right to strike before any job action has occurred or even been contemplated," said CCLA director Sukyana Pillay.
The legislation is expected to pass on Thursday.
Earlier this week about 4,000 teachers and their supporters rallied on the front lawn of Queen's Park calling for the minority Liberals to negotiate with them, rather than legislate.
Three unions representing about 45,000 teachers and school workers agreed to the two-year framework agreement with the province, which the government is now trying to impose on the others.
But the three other unions, representing about 191,000 members, oppose the deal and are fighting the legislation.
The bill, which will likely become law with the Progressive Conservatives' backing, would freeze salaries, ban strikes and lockouts for at least two years.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has defended the bill saying, "we can't afford [to raise teachers' pay] right now."
(c) 2012 CBC. All Rights Reserved.
Freezing teacher pay, cutting benefits unconstitutional, group says
The Toronto Sun
Fri Aug 31 2012
Page: 6
Section: News
Byline: ANTONELLA ARTUSO , QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU CHIEF
Provincial legislation freezing pay and cutting sick-day benefits of teachers and school staff is an unconstitutional attack on the right to collective bargaining, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) says.
"Budget concerns are no justification to undercut the democratic process," CCLA director Sukanya Pillay said Thursday.
In addition to a promised courtroom battle over the legislation, teachers may vent their anger over the bill by refusing to participate in extracurricular activities.
Ken Coran, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, said individual teachers are indicating that they're too angry over the bill to take on voluntary tasks.
"And by extra curricular we don't just mean sports teams ... it's drama, it's the band, it's student council, it's a whole plethora of other events where there's a lot of learning that goes on in those environments to really help the students to collaborate better with others, to respect others and to be a contributing member of society," Coran said. "If they start questioning their desire to do those kinds of things, it's going to have an impact on the whole education system. It's a concern. It's growing."
Education Minister Laurel Broten said she'd ask teachers to "put our students first" when it comes to extra-curricular activities.
The minister believes the legislation, Bill 115, will withstand any constitutional challenge, arguing her government made a serious attempt at meaningful negotiations with all school employee unions.
While the English Catholic school teachers signed on, unions representing the majority of teachers and school staff walked away from the provincial talks.
"Collective agreements expire on Aug. 31. They would automatically roll over, costing the province $473 million," Broten said. "We have been very clear that our choice was full-day kindergarten, was small class sizes, and (we) could not simply afford an increase in teacher pay at this time. We negotiated for more than 300 hours over six months; we have 55,000 teachers that have signed on to that agreement."
The debate around Bill 115 continued in the legislature Thursday but the government moved to speed up passage of the bill by Sept. 10, while allowing two days of committee hearings.
(c) 2012 Sun Media Corporation. All rights reserved.
Rights group fights teacher wage freezes
Calgary Herald
Fri Aug 31 2012
Page: A10
Section: News
Byline: Maria Babbage
Dateline: TORONTO
Source: The Canadian Press
A national civil liberties group is joining the fight against a controversial bill by Ontario's cash-strapped government that would force a wage freeze and cuts to benefits on tens of thousands of teachers across the province.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association echoed teachers' unions in condemning the legislation as unconstitutional and a violation of workers' rights across the province.
They're warning the governing Liberals not to proceed with the legislation that they're pushing through the legislature, or face the consequences in court.
"We understand that budget concerns need to be addressed by government, but budget concerns are no justification to undercut the democratic process," said Sukanya Pillay, a director of the association.
The bill "seriously impairs fundamental rights in a manner that cannot be justified in a free and democratic society," she added.
The legislation, which three unions have vowed to fight all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, will also give the government the power to ban strikes and lockouts for at least two years.
That's alarming because it removes the right to strike before there's even the threat of one, said Pillay, who plans to seek intervener status in a potential legal challenge of the bill.
Toronto lawyer Steven Barrett, who provided advice on the legislation to the unions, said it doesn't take a constitutional lawyer to conclude that the legislation is an "unprecedented assault" on the rights of educational workers.
The Ontario Liberals are going even further than the federal Conservatives when they forced striking employees at Air Canada and Canada Post back to work.
Unlike the Liberals, the Harper Conservatives didn't give cabinet or a minister the authority to "unilaterally and arbitrarily" impose collective agreement terms, he said.
Instead, they left it to independent binding arbitration.
FREEZE UNCONSTITUTIONAL: CIVIL LIBERTIES GROUP ; PROVINCE-TEACHER STANDOFF
24 Hours Toronto
Fri Aug 31 2012
Page: 4
Section: News
Byline: ANTONELLA ARTUSO, QMI AGENCY
Provincial legislation which freezes pay and cuts sick day benefits of teachers and school staff is an unconstitutional attack on the right to collective bargaining, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) says.
"Budget concerns are no justification to undercut the democratic process," CCLA director Sukanya Pillay said Thursday.
In addition to a promised courtroom battle over the legislation, teachers may vent their anger over the bill by refusing to participate in extracurricular activities.
Ken Coran, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, said individual teachers are indicating that they are too angry over the bill to take on voluntary tasks.
"And by extra curricular we don't just mean sports teams ... it's drama, it's the band, it's student council, it's a whole plethora of other events where there's a lot of learning that goes on in those environments to really help the students to collaborate better with others, to respect others and to be a contributing member of society," Coran said.
"If they start questioning their desire to do those kinds of things, it's going to have an impact on the whole education system. It's a concern. It's growing."
Education Minister Laurel Broten said she would ask teachers to "put our students first" when it comes to extracurricular activities.
The minister believes the legislation, Bill 115, will withstand any constitutional challenge, arguing her government made a serious attempt at meaningful negotiations with all school employee unions.
While the English Catholic school teachers signed on, unions representing the majority of teachers and school staff walked away from the provincial talks.
Lawyer Steven Barrett, of Sack Goldblatt Mitchell, who has provided advice to the school employee unions fighting Bill 115, said there are several flaws in the legislation.
"You don't have to be a constitutional lawyer to conclude that the proposed legislation is an unprecedented attack on the civil liberties and constitutional rights and freedoms of school board employees," Barrett said.
The government moved to speed up passage of the bill by Sept. 10, while allowing two days of committee hearings.
Ontario teachers get aid in wages, benefits battle
Times Colonist (Victoria)
Fri Aug 31 2012
Page: A9
Section: Canada
Dateline: TORONTO
Source: The Canadian Press
A national civil liberties group is joining the fight against a controversial bill by Ontario's cash-strapped government that would force a wage freeze and cuts to benefits on tens of thousands of teachers across the province.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association echoed teachers' unions in condemning the legislation as unconstitutional and a violation of workers' rights across the province.
They're warning the governing Liberals not to proceed with the legislation that they're pushing through the legislature, or face the consequences in court.
"We understand that budget concerns need to be addressed by government, but budget concerns are no justification to undercut the democratic process," said Sukanya Pillay, a director of the association.
The bill "seriously impairs fundamental rights in a manner that cannot be justified in a free and democratic society," she added.
The legislation, which three unions have vowed to fight all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, will also give the government the power to ban strikes and lockouts for at least two years.
That's alarming because it removes the right to strike before there's even the threat of one, said Pillay, who plans to seek intervener status in a potential legal challenge of the bill.
The Ontario government, which is facing a $15-billion deficit, has suggested that the bill isn't objectionable because it imposes terms of an agreement it reached with English Catholic and francophone teachers.
Education Minister Laurel Broten said the government will confidently defend the bill in court.
Bill 155 'undercuts' democracy, Civil Liberties Association ; LABOUR: Teachers may refuse to take on extra-curricular duties
The Sault Star
Fri Aug 31 2012
Page: A2
Section: News
Byline: ANTONELLA ARTUSO QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU CHIEF
TORONTO -- Provincial legislation freezing pay and cutting sick day benefits of teachers and school staff is an unconstitutional attack on the right to collective bargaining, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) says.
"Budget concerns are no justification to undercut the democratic process," CCLA director Sukanya Pillay said Thursday.
In addition to a promised courtroom battle over the legislation, teachers may vent their anger over the bill by refusing to participate in extra-curricular activities.
Ken Coran, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, said individual teachers are indicating that they are too angry over the bill to take on voluntary tasks.
"And by extra-curricular we don't just mean sports teams ... it's drama, it's the band, it's student council, it's a whole plethora of other events where there's a lot of learning that goes on in those environments to really help the students to collaborate better with others, to respect others and to be a contributing member of society," Coran said. "If they start questioning their desire to do those kinds of things, it's going to have an impact on the whole education system. It's a concern. It's growing."
Education Minister Laurel Broten said she would ask teachers to "put our students first" when it comes to extra-curricular activities.
The minister believes the legislation, Bill 115, will withstand any constitutional challenge, arguing her government made a serious attempt at meaningful negotiations with all school employee unions.
While the English Catholic school teachers signed on, unions representing the majority of teachers and school staff walked away from the provincial talks.
"Collective agreements expire on August 31st; they would automatically roll over costing the province $473 million," Broten said. "We have been very clear that our choice was full-day kindergarten, was small class sizes, and (we) could not simply afford an increase in teacher pay at this time. We negotiated for more than 300 hours over six months; we have 55,000 teachers that have signed on to that agreement."
Lawyer Steven Barrett of Sack Goldblatt Mitchell, who has provided advice to the school employee unions fighting Bill 115, said there are several flaws in the legislation.
The provincial government is bringing in back-to-work legislation for teachers who are not on strike and who are employees of local school boards, he said.
"You don't have to be a constitutional lawyer to conclude that the proposed legislation is an unprecedented attack on the civil liberties and constitutional rights and freedoms of school board employees," Barrett said.
The debate around Bill 115 continued in the legislature Thursday but the government moved to speed up passage of the bill by Monday Sept. 10, while allowing two days of committee hearings.
(c) 2012 Osprey Media Group Inc. All rights reserved.
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