Occasional Teachers' Bargaining Unit News updated January 31, 2012

By-Law Amendments

Below are the By-Law Amendments for the current school year, which will be presented at the General Meeting of February 22nd.

Read the proposed By-Law Amendments here.

AGM 2012

We still need one more OT delegate for secondary.  Please call the OTBUnit office if interested (905-206-9200).

Members are encouraged to become involved in the OECTA Association by becoming an AGM delegate and submitting their interest in attending the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) from  March 9th to 12th at Caesars Hotel in Windsor, Ontario.

What is OECTA?  Who does it represent?  What can it do for me?  The duties of the delegates at AGM are:

*to approve the goals and objectives of the planning and budget cycle;

*to set the Association fee for statutory members;

*to amend the constitution, by-laws, policies and procedures;

*to elect the Provincial Executive and board of governors; and

*to receive reports from the standing committees, work groups, project teams and task forces.

Just to name a few.  It will give you an opportunity to socialize and meet other OECTA members from across the province, and to have FUN.

Getting involved will give you insight to the work that goes on behind the scenes on behalf of the membership.

EMAIL THE OTBUNIT OFFICE TODAY AT dpotbunit@gmail.com

OECTA's Beginning Teachers' Conference 2012

OECTA's annual Beginning Teachers' Conference takes place on February 23-25, 2012 at the Hilton Toronto Airport Hotel & Suites, Mississauga, Ontario.  The keynote speaker on Friday will be Dr. Jane Bluestein, author, classroom teacher and crisis intervention counsellor.  Joanne Cave, founder of Ophelia's Voice,  will be speaking about Educating the Next Generation of Leaders on Saturday.

Each bargaining unit is allocated one provincially sponsored delegate that has their expenses  covered by OECTA Provincial office.  The Conference is open to all occasional teachers who are in their first 5 years of teaching, and have not attended the conference previously.    This year  the OTB Unit's sponsored delegate  is  Dominika Telech.

It should be an exciting and informative conference!

The OTBUnit Executive for 2011 - 2012 is

President                      - Jean Smylie
Vice President               - Teresa Kolk

Treasurer                      - Mike Farrugia (2nd year of his term)
Recording Secretary       - Sherron Ritz
Councillors                    - Mike Rahal, Lisa Stokaluk-Bartnik, Lesia Teply, Roman Vynyarchuk

Article 13.10: Procedure 

A procedure for Article 13.10 (removal from OT list) which became effective April 15th, 2011 was agreed to by both parties.  Please review the procedure by clicking here.  

It is imperative that you continue to document refusals, declines, cancellations, etc. (date, school, F or H day, teacher, grade, and reason(s) in case the Board requests your reasonable grounds. If you are unable to work, please make yourself “unavailable” so that the system does not take the time to call you needlessly.

Should you have any questions, please call the OTBU office.

AGM 2011

I would like to personally express my thanks to these delegates for volunteering their time during the March Break to attend AGM 2011 - Teresa Kolk, Charlotte Leavitt, Valerie Longo, Karen Maisonville, Adriana Sherriff, Jean Smylie, Lisa Stokaluk-Bartnik, Lesia Teply,  Mike Farrugia, Katia Salvatore, Antonino Gentile, Sherron Ritz, Mike Sourial and Roman Vynyarchuk.

By Lisa Stokaluk-Bartnik

After a few years of occasional teaching and attending OECTA-Occasional Teachers Unit meetings, I wanted to become more actively  involved in the Association.  I applied to go as an Annual General Meeting delegate which was a very thrilling time for me because I would represent seventy-five of my colleagues. This valuable opportunity was going to be an exciting learning experience.

I was required to attend two Pre-AGM meetings. These meetings were to inform and prepare delegates for what was to come. We received information about what was going to occur at the AGM. This helped me to feel more prepared and less anxious. All fellow delegates were very supportive and welcoming, which made the beginning of this journey a lot easier.

The time came for me to attend AGM 2011 at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel.  On the Friday evening, the Dufferin-Peel elementary unit invited their delegates to their Hospitality suite.  After getting acquainted with some of my fellow colleagues, I went to register and collect all the documentation needed for the weekend. There was also a social in one of the ballrooms where all OECTA teacher delegates from across Ontario could go and socialize with their peers.

The meeting officially started on the Saturday morning. It was a very educational weekend filled with information, guest speakers, elections of OTF Governors, and voting on resolutions that would affect OECTA members.  It was a very stimulating, exciting and wonderful  three days.

There is so much that I have learnt from this weekend about OECTA.   I can’t wait to go back again, and I encourage my peers to attend the next AGM in 2012. It is a rewarding learning experience that you will never forget!

The highlights of OECTA's Annual General Meeting:

1.  Election of Provincial Executive & OTF Governors  -

The 2011 -2012 OECTA Provincial Executive are:

• President - Kevin O'Dwyer 
• 1st Vice President - Chris Karuhanga
• 2nd Vice President - Ann Hawkins
• 3rd Vice President - Warren Grafton
• Treasurer - Sonia DiPetta
• Councillors - Andrew Donihee & Louie Trinchi
• OTF Table Officer - Julie Pauletig
• Past President - James Ryan

OTF (Ontario Teachers' Federation) Governors are:

• Tom Doyle
• Reno Melatti
• Julie Pauletig, Table Officer
• Richard Schrader
• Michael Wozniak

2.  OECTA Fee increase effective July 1st, 2011:

• Full-time permanent teachers will have a fee increase next year from $950.00 to $1010.00
• Occasional teachers' fee will increase next year from 1.67% (1.55 + 0.12%) to 1.75% (1.63 + 0.12%)

3.  Additional Release Days effective July 1st, 2011:

       OTBUnits will receive additional release days based on their membership FTEs (Full Time
       Equivalent).  Dufferin-Peel OTBUnit release will increase from 85 days to 180 days per school
       year.

Apply for membership in OECTA standing committees

OECTA members are invited to apply to be a member on one of the Association’s standing committees. Current committee members seeking reappointment are asked to reapply.

The deadline to submit an online application is May 1, 2011.

Committees provide opportunities for teachers to contribute their expertise, be creative and develop new interests, while serving the needs of Association members. New teachers are particularly encouraged to get involved, and share their energy and fresh ideas.

Read all the details in the e-Agenda.

Unit BY-LAWS & PROCEDURES

The Occasional Teacher Bargaining Unit By-Laws and Procedures for 2010.

Read the By-Laws and Procedures here.

Don't Assume your Pay is Accurate!

Don’t assume your pay is accurate simply because it was generated by a computer. An occasional teacher’s pay is particularly prone to problems because you are not paid a regular bi-weekly salary.
You must rely on the school to “verify” the teacher’s absence and their teacher replacement before the payroll deadline date, in order for you to be paid for the assignment. You need to track your days worked and check each pay to confirm that you were paid correctly. At the bottom of your Pay Statement, you will find the dates you are being paid for with the corresponding full day (1.0) or a half day (0.6) beside each date.
If you find that you are missing pay for a day or half day, call Sonia Lindo-Diogo, Payroll Dept. at the Board office. You should also call the Dufferin-Peel Occasional Teachers' Bargaining Unit (OTBU) office  to inform us so we are aware of any widespread inconsistencies. Mistakes do happen and if you don’t find the error and report it, you will miss out on the money.

Available for work, not called?

If you have been available to work but not called,

Please email  dpotbunit@gmail.com the following information:

1. Your employee number
2. Your start date as an OT
3. Are you an elementary only, secondary only or elem/sec Occasional Teacher?
4. Schools you are willing to teach at according to your profile.
5. Grades/subjects, along with specialty subjects, you are willing to teach at according to your profile.
6. Dates you were available to work but not called.
7. Every month all you will need to do is to email Jean only the dates you were available but not called.

Thank you for your co-operation regarding this request. It will assist the Dufferin-Peel Occasional Teachers' Bargaining Unit (OTBU) if we know that uncertified persons are working when you are sitting at home waiting for a job.

A word of caution:  Accepting ERW positions

If you accept a job replacing a teacher, and that job is not available or cancelled, you should not go home. You should remain at the school and be re-assigned for the original assignment duration. Article 15.01 states should this occur, occasional teachers will be given occasional teaching duties. Occasional teachers should not accept ERW positions as OECTA will not assist you should you be the subject of an allegation while replacing an ERW. You may also be paid the “uncertified” hourly rate.

Transportation of Students

The Board has recently revised their General Administration Procedure (GAP) 801 on transporting students in one's own personal vehicle. The Local strongly advises you to refrain from transporting students in your own vehicle. If you drive students in your own car, your personal insurance is accessed until it is exhausted. It would adversely impact on your insurance rates, threaten your career, and expose you to damaging litigation.
Both OECTA and the Ontario College of Teachers have issued professional advisories of the professional risks for teachers who transport students in any vehicle.