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:
- The Board would have you believe that something significant happened
in bargaining on Tuesday.
- The Board would have you believe that the employer made a significant
move.
- The Board would have you believe that the mediator threw down the gauntlet to the union. Accept or reject in two hours!
- 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:
- Nothing significant happened in bargaining.
- The offer the Board handed us contained no movement of any note whatsoever.
- The mediator made no ultimatum to the union.
- 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.