THUNDER BAY -- Tempers flared on Monday night as elementary teachers with the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board clashed on occasion with board officials and security guards ahead of a planned board meeting.
More than 300 member of the local branch of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association took part in a demonstration march, where they promised to increase on-the-job sanctions with contract talks stalled and no timetable for negotiations planned.
Shouting erupted between several union members and a board trustee, while another marcher took offence after a security guard bumped into him, leading police to intervene before it escalated any further.
Most on hand marched peacefully, shouting union slogans and waving to passing traffic honking support, a 1980s classic-rock soundtrack blaring in the background.
Stakes are high, said Aldro Grillo, president of the OECTA local, explaining the emotion of the marchers.
“Since our last meeting on Oct. 5, talks have broken off,” Grillo said. “There are no other talks scheduled at the moment. Obviously this rally is an indication of our displeasure. We’re not going anywhere too fast. The board has failed to address our needs in terms of seniority.”
The union is at odds with the board in terms of its hiring practices and not only wants more transparency in the process, but to be involved. Grillo last month said experience matters, but the board often doesn’t often promote or hire from within.
With few other options remaining, their work-to-rule campaign is about to ramp up, he said.
“We are scaling back our report-card coverage. At this stage of the game report cards will not include any comments. It will simply be letter and number grades,” Grillo said.
Pino Tassone, director of education for the Catholic board, said it’s disappointing students and parents won’t have the benefits of comments, which help both gauge progress in the classroom.
“It will not inform the parent as well as it should. That’s a big concern for us because parents are the primary teachers of our children and they really need to know how their children are progressing,” Tassone said.
Grillo said teachers were also angry at what he termed misinformation being spread by the board in both the media and in letters home to parents, something Tassone disputed.
“We had a parent letter go out. It was timely for us to start sending some information from our end. We kind of kept quiet there in presenting our views on how negotiations are going,” Tassone said. “We’ve been pretty committed and consistent with our message.”
Tassone said there is little wiggle room when it comes to their hiring policy.
“We really believe in our mandate,” he said. “We believe in the process that we have. We believe that it’s the key ingredient to the success of our students.”
He remains optimistic the two sides can get back to the table and strike a deal.
