To OCTU Members

I will be at AMPA Friday March 11 - Monday March 14, 2011. I will be on vacation from Tuesday March 15 - 18, 2011. For those of you on vacation enjoy the rest.

thanks,

Mary Lou

Christmas Vacation

I will be on vacation during the Christmas Break.
Have a happy and safe holiday season.

Regards,

Mary Lou

LABOUR DAY PARADE

JOIN US AT LABOUR DAY 2010!

OSSTF District 21 members and their families are invited to join us for the Labour Day Parade on Monday, September 6. We will be meeting at approximately 9:30 am on York Street (look for the OSSTF flags, close to the York and Locke Street North intersection.) We will be marching in Section 2 behind CUPE.

The parade begins at 10:30 sharp. Shirts will be provided and information on a post-parade BBQ will be distributed at the parade. Family-friendly activities will also be available at Dundurn Park with our labour brothers and sisters.

Hope to see you there!

Secondary Teachers--Paystub and Taxation

Members will be receiving a memo from Human Resources (Payroll) that clarifies what has been happening with taxation and the new payroll system.

It reads as follows:

"As you know we have moved to a new Human Resources/Payroll Information System and some questions have arisen around tax deductions. Taxes are deducted based on a formula provided by Revenue Canada. We have standardized the tax which will ensure that there will be no excessive tax situations as we experienced in June of this year. Please be aware that the amount of tax being deducted may be impacted by the following:

-increases in salary
-changes in tax law
-working for various employee groups (ie summer and/or night school)
-requesting extra tax to be deducted

If you have questions about your taxes, please contact the payroll dept at 905-527-5092 ext. 2473 or via email to Eva Veerasamy ( Eva.Veerasamy@hwdsb.on.ca )
or Aleksandra Golebiowski (Aleksandra.Golebiowski@hwdsb.on.ca) "

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING WHMIS AND OFFENSE DECLARATIONS

WHMIS AND OFFENSE DECLARATIONS--SECONDARY TEACHERS

The HWDSB has compiled a list of those teachers who have not completed their WHMIS training or Offense Declaration for the upcoming school year. Correspondence has been sent to these individuals. The list, however, erroneously includes teachers who were on leave last year (sick leave, general leave, maternity leave, etc.) Teachers who were on leave are able to complete their WHMIS training and OD upon their return to school September 1st. If you were on leave last year, and have received a communication from the Board, please contact Brenda Maxwell at 905-527-5092 ext. 2224 in Human Resources.

The Board has directed all other teachers who need to complete their WHMIS training and/or Offence Declaration to contact the Human Resources Department before August 31. Should you encounter any issues with this process, please contact us at the District 21 Office.

Chantal

Summer School Pay

Important--Summer School Teachers

It has been brought to our attention that the Board may have deducted too much tax from a number of teachers' summer school pay (similar to what happened with the regular pay in June.) They have committed to reviewing individual teacher paystubs to look for discrepancies. If you believe that this has happened to you, please call the Board at 905-527-5092 and ask for the payroll department.

Teachers' Summer Info

Teachers' Unit Executive Summer Hours

Please be aware that the Teachers' Unit Executive Officers do not have regular summer hours. The best way to reach us, if necessary, is via email. The email addresses for the three time-release officers are available on the left column of the district21.ca website. If there is a serious emergency that threatens your employment, please contact the provincial office at 1-800-267-7867 and ask to speak to the Duty Officer.

Summer Travel Benefits Information

Please record the following information and keep it with you* if you are travelling out of Ontario during the summer:

Your HWDSB Employee ID - paystub

Your Division Number - 102

Your Policy Number - 136993

Great West Life Phone - 1-800-957-9777 (Canada & US), 1-204-946-1190 (anywhere else)

*note: if you are travelling to Cuba, please bring your GWL Benefits card as well. If you cannot show proof of insurance when entering Cuba, they will make you purchase theirs.

You should also get in touch with Paul Baldwin, the HWDSB benefits officer for any major incidents that will go through the benefits plan. He can often act as an advocate with Great West Life to get problems cleared up. His number is 905-527-5092 X2666. Wherever you are travelling this summer, be safe and have fun!

Vacation

I will be on vacation the weeks July 26 - 30, 2010, August 9 - 13, 2010. If there is a change I will repost the dates.

Have a great summer,

Mary Lou

Teachers' Pay Update #4

Clicking on the link provided below will allow you to view/download John Malloy's letter regarding the tax repayment to occur in July.

HWDSB letter to teachers

To sum up a few of the salient points:

1) There is an ability to opt out if you wish and leave the tax deduction the way it is. As such, you would be taxed proportionally less at the end of the calendar year.

2) A repayment will be made on July 23rd via regular direct deposit channels.

3) Teachers will receive back between 1% to 3% of their gross pay to date. We assume this is because the board wishes to issue a flat number rather than a percentage. (i.e. an amount of $600 would fluctuate between 1% to 3% for most teachers and we assume the board could claw back $120 per pay in the fall)

I appreciate many of you talking to your OSSTF Branch Representatives and not inundating our office with calls on this issue. Rest assured we are already trying to work with the board to establish practices that will prevent this from happening in the future.

Have a great summer!

Anthony

Teachers' Pay Update #3

We received a memo at the office today regarding the board's plans to reimburse teachers who faced a high deduction on their June pay. From the memo...

"...we are also aware that many employees budget for the extra funds during the summer months. In order to assist you, we will be issuing a one-time payment to affected staff on July 23^rd based on the tax deducted according to each person’s individual pay. This amount will be deposited directly into your bank account as per our regular pay procedures."

We hope to be made aware of the exact amount each teacher can expect by tomorrow at the latest. All updates will be posted on the website. When final information is received, we will also email Branch Presidents.

While not pleased with events and procedures which have brought us to this point with so little time left in the school year, we will be ready to work with the board to ensure the tax deductions for the 2010-2011 year can be adjusted to better support the membership going into future summers.

Anthony Marco

Teachers' Pay Update #2

We believe that the board's new payroll software, in its infinite wisdom, has calculated taxes by pro-rating "monthly" salaries. As such, we paid slightly less tax from January to May when our 8% pay was pro-rated over 12 months to 96% percent of our actual annual salary. This 4% discrepancy meant that less taxes were taken during the period.

In June, when we make 20% of our annual salary, the computer once again multiplied by 12 to give a total of 240% of our real salary - and taxed with a rate it thought was correct.

The inline image below contains information about June and YTD income and tax rates for 2009 and 2010 as a comparison.

click here for higher-res image

After the lesser deductions from January to May and the over deduction in June, the total overage on the tax charge from 2009 to 2010 was 1% of gross. As in the image above, for a CAT4 max teacher who has made $53,528.40 to date this year, a 1% difference is $535.28. We would hope that the board would remit somewhere close to this amount (pro-rated depending on grid placement) as soon as possible with the understanding it will be scaled back through a smoothed tax rate in the fall.

We await to hear confirmation of their plans, but are optimistic in ongoing discussions, we can get resolution on this issue ASAP. Rest assured that we will be trying to convince the board to get this money into your bank accounts as early as possible.

Please come back to the website for information as we get it.

In Federation,

Anthony Marco

Teachers' Pay Update

Trevor, Dan and I have spent the late morning and early afternoon speaking with John Forbeck (Supt. of HR) and Darlene Steele about the pay stub income tax issues.

From their investigation, as the calls started to roll in from all corners yesterday, they have assured us of the following:

That from January 2010 - May 2010 we were effectively taxed less than for the same period than last or previous years under the old payroll program. Under the old program, someone manually entered the tax rate to equalize the amounts deducted. Under the new program, payroll personnel allowed the new software to generate appropriate tax divisions, by pay, according to the tax code.

As such (for example) if one checked their pay from February of 2009 and compared it February of 2010, you would notice that you probably paid anywhere from $100-$250 less in income tax than February 2009.

With less deductions from January to June, the new software made up for the discrepancy by a higher than usual tax rate to balance it out. The board has said they would provide us with a 2009 and 2010 June pay statement from a Cat4 Max teacher with no additional allowances. The year-to-date gross and year-to-date Income Tax should be very close after taking into consideration our three percent raise.

We look forward to providing everyone with this evidence on Monday, but would encourage you to check yourselves if you have a June 2009 pay statement that can be compared to the year-to-date totals on your 2010 electronic pay statement. Please let us know, if after our 3% raise and no additional allowances, if the board's claims are not true in your case.

All this said, the board is exploring strategies to address the greater than anticipated tax deduction in June 2010. We have recommended a possible deferral of this larger than expected tax deduction which could be reclaimed by the board from September to December of 2010.

We hope to have this resolved by June 30th at the latest.

Regards,

Anthony Marco
TBU Acting President

Teachers' June Pay

Many teachers may have realized that their June pay is $700 to $1500 less than their June pay from 2009.

We have been in touch with several people in payroll and the Supt. of HR. We are assured it is a top priority.

We believe that someone entered an improper tax rate on the new payroll program. The pay problem has affected Elementary teachers as well.

Our position, at this point, is that any money owed to teachers for work done to June 30th had better be in bank accounts by that date. We are pushing every avenue we have to ensure this is done.

Anthony Marco
Acting President Teachers'

Teachers' Redundancy List

Just to inform all Teachers' Unit members that teachers down to, and including, 1272 on the seniority list are officially recalled as of Monday, 14 June 2010.

Congratulations to those recalled... please keep coming back to website for updates. Any of these teachers are now eligible to apply for any postings which come available.

Teachers: The Spec Doesn't Have The Facts

The Hamilton Spectator published an article today saying "High schools will lose eight full-time positions."

We don't know where The Spec got their facts from, but here are the numbers as they stand right now:

48 teachers still redundant

25.87 FTE (full-time equivalency) teachers redundant

I don't know if The Spec got their numbers from the HWDSB, because we would to know that 18 full-time positions have been re-employed beyond our current numbers. If The Spec invented the numbers on their own, we don't know what formula they used to determine such results.

We will follow up to try and clarify where the misinformation originated.

Retirement Season

A quick reminder that the District Retirement Reception is happening this Thursday, June 3rd, 4-7pm, St. Naum’s Church, 1150 Stonechurch Rd. East, Hamilton.

Beyond that we have a special retirement gathering to announce. Jim Douglas, former TBU President and Provincial Executive Officer will be retiring at the end of June. The poster has been sent to Branch Presidents to be posted in schools, but is included below with all the information on time, date and location.

Annual Family Picnic (Teachers & OCTU)

The District 21 6th Annual Family Picnic will take place from 11am-3pm at Gage Park on June 6th.

We usually set up flags and tables within 100 yards of the Lawrence Rd. parking lot. There will be food and soft drinks provided. This is a free event for OSSTF members and their families.

There will be activities and prizes for the children.

As we are in a municipal park, this is a non-licensed event. The picnic is not meant to be used as a drop-off centre for children. We do not provide daycare; you are expected to be present with your children at all times.

Please come out and help us countdown the last 4 weeks of the school year!

OSSTF 21 PAC Panel Discussion

Teachers: AGM Reminder

Teachers are reminded that the Annual General Meeting is Thursday, April 22nd at LIUNA Station. Those who signed up in time should already have booklets at their schools.

If you have not signed up, you can still attend. You will need to register in the front foyer. A meal has not been reserved for those who did not sign up in advance.

Occasional members who have not previously registered are allowed to attend and vote, however, you should bring a paystub or other proof that you have worked in the last six months.

The meeting will start at 4:30 with a planned wrap up at 6:30 for dinner.

Hope to see everyone there.

Kids Help Phone - Hamilton Fundraising Walk

Provincial Office has asked me to relay some information about the Kids Help Phone fundraiser walk in Hamilton on May 2nd.

OSSTF is a provincial sponsor of Kids Help Phone and information for the walk can be found at the following link: http://bit.ly/dwdiQ6

The walk is 5km around Bayfront Park. Hoping that good weather will make this a fun family or friends activity. Please feel free to forward this information to friends and let us know if any OSSTF members at your branch will be participating.

You can register and join the OSSTF team online using the link below. It’s free and only takes a few minutes.

http://my.e2rm.com/TeamPage.aspx?Lang=en-CA&TSID=268200

Once you’re registered, you can invite your friends, family and co-workers to pledge you online. The pledges you raise will help support Kids Help Phone and help you earn great incentive prizes.

Visit http://www.walkforkidshelpphone.ca for more information!

Teachers and OCTU Social Event

The Social Comittees of OSSTF Teachers and Office, Clerical, Technical Units are kicking off the Spring with a Niagara Winery trip on Friday, May 14th at 4:30pm.

A bus will pick up people at the District Office at 4:30 (1423 Upper Ottawa) and make another pickup at the Fool and Flagon (2255 Barton Street E. near Nash) at 4:45.

Itinerary

5:15 Kittling Ridge Winery (tour)

6:15 Board bus for Niagara Falls

7:00 Niagara's Best Brewery and Pub (tour)

8:00 Dinner

9:30 Leave for Home

11:00 Drop at Fool and Flagon

11:15 Drop at District Office

OCTU space is limited to 28 members overall.

Teacher space is limited to 6 members per branch/school. This number may expand if other schools don't use their allotment.

Please call the office to reserve a spot. Even if you are over for your school's allotment, we can hold spots on a waiting list. If spots have not been claimed by May 7th, we will contact waiting list names. If you previously reserved and have to cancel, please call so we can go to the list.

This event is open to members only.

Spouses, partners, and children are always welcome at our other events like the Annual Family Picnic and the Family Film Nights.

Please call the District Office with any questions.

Teachers' Annual General Meeting

Annual General Meeting - LIUNA Station, 360 James Street North, Hamilton - Thursday, April 22, 2010

All branches should have had sign-up sheets for the AGM in their workplaces for several weeks. If you have not signed up already, and wish to go, please ask your Branch President to add your name to the list or add it yourself. On the sign-up sheet, please indicate any dietary concerns.

We will need to submit numbers for meals to LIUNA Station within the next week or so. You are entitled to attend even if you have not signed up, but you will require a pay stub to confirm membership. If you have not signed up on time, you will not be entitled to a meal, but you will be able to attend and vote at the meeting.

If your Branch President has already submitted their list of names to the District Office, you can call 905-574-8285 to add yours - the sooner the better.

All people who have their names in on-time will receive a booklet containing all motions to be discussed, reports from Executive, minutes and agenda.

Motions for constitutional changes or amendments require a 2/3 vote if submitted at least 30 days before the AGM, 3/4 if 15 days, or 9/10 any period after that, up to and including motions drafted at the meeting itself.

Nominations for Executive positions will be considered on-time before 4pm, April 1st, 2010. There will be forms on tables for people wishing nominations from the floor of the meeting itself.

On-time candidates for Executive positions will be able to access Branch labels and envelopes at the District Office.

Teachers: Upcoming Events

March 26th - Family Film Night (Teachers and OCTU)

Bring the young ones to a kids film on the big screen in our office. Food and drinks provided. Film TBA.

April 26th - Pension Workshop (Teachers)

Call now to reserve a spot for the Pension Workshop at 4pm.

Teachers: March Break Travel Benefits

Out-of-country coverage

Coverage is provided for you and your eligible dependents in the event of a medical emergency which occurs while temporarily travelling outside of Canada for business, education or vacation purposes.

Benefits are reimbursed at a rate of 100% of eligible expenses. This plan has a $500,000 lifetime maximum.

A medical emergency is generally considered to be one that arises as the result of:

„A sudden or unexpected injury, or

A new medical condition which was not identified or being treated prior to your departure from Canada, or

A previously identified medical condition which was stable and controlled for a period of three months immediately prior to your departure from Canada. In such cases you may be required to provide medical documentation showing there were no complications such as hospitalizations, medication changes or doctors visits. As well as no new or ongoing symptoms for that condition during he three month period immediately prior to your departure date.

Our group plan provides coverage for medical expenses such as physicians’ fees, lab fees and hospital fees that are incurred in the treatment of the initial medical emergency.

The following out of country expenses are NOT USUALLY covered by Great West Life group plans:

„Non-emergency care of follow-up care after the initial emergency treatment

„Expenses related to pregnancy or delivery after the 35^th week of pregnancy or any time prior to the 35^th week if the patient’s Canadian physician considers the pregnancy a high risk.

„Continued medical care following an emergency outside of Canada if the patient’s medical condition permits a return to Canada for treatment.

If you have a claim, or experience a medical emergency while travelling in the United States, please call 1-800-957-9777 or if travelling in other countries you can call (204) 946-1190

Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament

Several OSSTF members attended the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament rally this past Saturday in Gore Park. The following video explains how the rally came to be and how widespread the rallies reached across Canada.

Teachers and Occasionals - Staffing

Teachers - The staffing process has been completed except for outstanding lines which they are going to hire for. Many teachers who requested expansion received additional permanent lines. Everyone was placed at a school who was owed lines for SEM2.

Occasionals - The board will be hiring for lines that need to be filled for SEM2. The positions will be up on the board website starting Thursday, January 7 for all permanent lines. Occasional Teachers are expected to notify school principals if they are interested in positions listed on the website. LTO positions will be posted on January 11th. Please check the www.hwdsb.on.ca/careers website for all postings at least every couple of days.

All of these positions are NOT part of the contractual posting process. All existing contract teachers have been placed and expanded as per contract requirements. The board will not create new itinerant teachers between two schools in one semester. If you are a contract teacher, you CANNOT apply for these lines.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays to all from OSSTF District 21

If you're travelling over the holidays, please be safe. Teachers, please refer to the Benefits link on the left for the Benefits Cheat Sheet which has all the necessary information you'll need to take when travelling outside of Ontario.

In an emergency, over the holidays, the best way to contact OSSTF representation is by email. There will be no guarantee that any issues will be addressed before returning, but many of us do check our inbox every couple of days.

May you and your family enjoy the season. Try not to overdose on turkey or tofurkey.

Teachers - TGIF

This Friday, December 10th, 3pm

TGIF at The Endzone

1900 King Street East (King and Rosedale)

Hamilton, ON L8K 1W1

Food provided... come and join us!

Day of Remembrance - December 6th

Workload Committee Meeting

Just a quick reminder of the Workload Committee Meeting tonight at the District 21 Office at 5:00 p.m.

Mary Lou

Office Update

For all teacher bargaining unit members:

As I embark upon a maternity leave, please note that effective immediately Anthony Marco will assume my duties as Acting President. Dan Staples will also join Anthony and Trevor Powell, Chief Negotiator, in the District 21 Office as Acting 1st Vice President.

Thanks to everyone for their support, and I will see you at the AGM in April!

In federation,
Chantal Mancini

Teachers' Unit - Upcoming Events

November 12th - Retirement Planning Workshop (OTIP Benefits, OTG Financial Planning), 4pm @ District Office. Call to reserve a spot. Dinner will be provided.

Novermber 20th - Family Film Night. Bring the kids to the District Office at 7pm for a family film with snacks and soft drinks for all. Posters should be in schools soon. Parents are required to stay.

November 25th - Parental Leave Workshop, 4:30pm @ District Office. Call to reserve a spot. Dinner will be provided.

Teachers' Unit - Bill 177

1st Vice President, Anthony Marco was asked for input into a Ontario Network of Trustees press release that was issued earlier this week calling for public hearings on Bill 177. The press release was a combined effort of ONT (Ontario Network of Trustees), OSSTF District 21 and the Hamilton-Wentworth Elementary Teachers' Local.

The questions used to generate content for the press release included issues on the erosion of local democracy and the lack of definition for the term "Student Achievement" in the bill.

Here are the unedited quotations submitted for the release:

On the threat to local school board trustees...

"While we may not agree with our local trustees on everything, on this we do agree. Bill 177 strips away the voices of school trustees from voters in a way that is undemocratic and destructive to a peaceful, stable future for public education.”

On the lack of definition of the term "Student Achievement" as it relates to the job expectations of all employees...

"Bill 177 makes the jobs of everyone remotely tied to a school board responsible for a 'student achievement' without defining what students are supposed to 'achieve'. Education and learning are processes. Achievements are trophies. I hope the roles of education workers across Ontario are about contributing to the life-long learning of students, no matter which 'trophies' they might attain."

A recent press release put out by the OSSTF provincial office had similar concerns which are shared by District 21:

"Instead of supporting genuine student achievement, components of Bill 177 promote a system where statistical excellence is the goal, not quality education. Rather than increasing the public’s confidence in education, it will diminish it by creating an education system where authentic learning and assessment and evaluation are replaced by the fear of not measuring up to a benchmark, thus triggering intervention by the Ministry of Education.

The success of a student, a school or a school board cannot be measured solely by statistics. Ensuring that school boards are able to provide the necessary staff, resources, programs and supports to enable students to achieve their goals and be prepared for their futures is an important task entrusted to the Ministry of Education. Balancing the need for support and the necessity for intervention is difficult, but the Ministry must ensure that any actions it takes truly puts students first and everything else second. OSSTF/FEESO does not support Bill 177, in its current form, as this is clearly not the case. OSSTF/FEESO calls upon the government to delay final reading of Bill 177 and move to real public consultation on the legislation and its impact upon school board governance, student achievement and credit integrity."

The full provincial OSSTF press release can be found here.

For further information on Bill 177, please feel free to contact the District Office. The back page of the September issue of Insight provided some background on the key issues in the bill.

Bill 177 passed Second Reading at Queen's Park two days ago. There has still been no commitment on the part of the Liberal government for FULL PUBLIC hearings on this bill.

Provincial OSSTF Positions On H1N1

The information listed below indicates OSSTF positions on H1N1 for more extensive discussions to be conducted during the October 9, 2009 TTAC/SWAG meeting. (TTAC and SWAG are the Provincial Discussion Groups that include all education unions, the Ministry of Education, and OPSBA) The content below is abridged. The provincial office has indicated it will soon have information up on its website. These positions HAVE NOT been agreed to by our employer or the Ministry. We are hopeful, after further discussion, the Ministry will agree to some, if not all, of the following.

1) Medically Fragile Workers (e.g. Immuno-depressed, Expectant Mothers)

OSSTF/FEESO wants to be on the record that we disagree with the “no greater risk” position of the employers and insist that pregnant women and other medically fragile employees are accommodated to maximize their safety.

2) Reducing Exposure to Ill Staff and Students

Employers must take all necessary precautions to minimize the exposure to ill staff and students. OSSTF/FEESO is also concerned that established attendance management policy adopted by some employers will unduly pressure employees to go to work even if they have symptoms. OSSTF/FEESO believes it is reasonable, for tracking purposes, during the pandemic, to request that employees identify if "flu-like symptoms" are responsible for the absence. OSSTF/FEESO expects full disclosure of incidence levels at each workplace and within the system.

3) Hand Washing/Hand Sanitizers/Tissues

OSSTF/FEESO expects that prevention protocols are already in place and that each employer has met with union leaders to ensure that the prevention protocols are active and ready in each workplace. OSSTF/FEESO is also concerned that these protocols may rely heavily on staff in the system, increasing their supervision, reporting, cleaning etc work on top of their already full workload.

4) Special H1N1 Funding

The government must provide support funding for safety equipment, additional cleaning, appropriate additional cleaning supplies and temporary/replacement workers. If the outbreak materializes, the government and employer’s position that business will continue “as usual” will require replacement staff be available in all job categories.

5) School/Worksite Closure

OSSTF/FEESO demands that school closure information and thresholds are consistent and fully transparent. Criteria must be established to determine the viability of a worksite on any given day. It should never be up to the tolerance level of the staff that keeps a workplace open in high absentee conditions. Decisions to close schools/worksites will be discussed in collaboration with the local public health unit, the school board and union representatives.

6) School Year

There will be no extension to the school year due to closures of schools as a result of H1N1.

7) Education Sector Committee

The Ministries of Health and Education must commit that information dealing with the handling of H1N1 be made available to all key stakeholders and that the government will provide regular updates to the education sector. In addition, a K-12 Education Sector Committee must be established consisting of education sector unions, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labour representatives to provide advice to the field and to the Ministries on H1N1.