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Now the public gets a glimpse of the kind of manipulation we have been enduring at the bargaining table from the school board.

The scenario presented at a media conference by Trustee Cansfield, Tuesday afternoon, is a fabrication. What disrespect to our members, what disrespect to parents and students!

For weeks the Board has been manipulating numbers and distorting the facts. Theyve now stooped to a new low.

Scenario presented by the Board Tuesday afternoon:

  1. The Board would have you believe that something significant happened

    in bargaining on Tuesday.

  2. The Board would have you believe that the employer made a significant

    move.

  3. The Board would have you believe that the mediator threw down the gauntlet to the union. Accept or reject in two hours!
  4. The Board would have you believe that the strike is about to end!

None of this is true.

What really happened:
At the bargaining table, proposals are made back and forth, between the two parties. This is standard practice.

On Monday, we made a proposal to the employer. They made our committee wait seven hours, until 1:30 in the morning, before responding to our proposal.

The Board was so slow that the mediator made a procedural suggestion on Tuesday. He asked both parties to limit response time to two hours when replying to each others proposals.

At the media conference, Trustee Donna Cansfield created a fake scenario. Here are the facts:

  1. Nothing significant happened in bargaining.
  2. The offer the Board handed us contained no movement of any note whatsoever.
  3. The mediator made no ultimatum to the union.
  4. The strike is not about to end, until we see a fair offer.

She said the Board expects an immediate end to the strike, either through binding arbitration or union agreement to their offer. I can tell you that arbitration was not even mentioned at the bargaining table today, either by the Board or the Mediator.

Message to parents:
The scenario presented to the people of Toronto by the Board is a fake. What a horrible example to the students! I call on the parents and the students of Toronto to send a powerful message to the TDSB: no more stunts, no more manipulations settle this strike!

To the Board: Stop attacking the 1999 settlement! Start negotiating respectfully. Stop the manipulations you are disgracing yourselves in the eyes of our members.

There is a very simple formula for ending this strike stop trying to rollback the 1999 settlement and make us an offer comparable to the teachers. The Board has offered us 4.7% over two years - 4.7% is not comparable to the teachers 8% settlement!

Thanks to all the parents and teachers who called today to say they are joining us Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at the Ministry of Education (Wellesley and Bay). We will march to the TDSB office on College St.