UNIT EXECUTIVE MEETING
Minutes
Monday September 13, 2021
Virtual Zoom meeting
4:30 p.m.
1. Call to Order: Prayer and Pledge
Prayer
Creator God, we praise you, the source of all life. Renew our faith and guide us in our ministry as Catholic teachers. Let us touch the hearts and minds of those with whom we work.
Lord Jesus, share with us your counsel so we may choose knowledge over ignorance, wisdom over waste, peace over injustice, community over isolation and service over domination.
Holy Spirit, nurture our growth. Inspire us to give birth to the creative powers within us. Let us come to the fullness of life promised in the Gospel. Amen.
Pledge
I pledge to work for the goal of Christian Education, which is to co-operate with Divine Grace in forming the true and perfect Christian.
I promise to obey the rules and regulations of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association and to fulfill my duties as a member.
Land Acknowledgment
I would like to acknowledge that the land on which we gather today is the land traditionally used by the Haudenosaunee, Anishnaabe and Neutral people. I also acknowledge the enduring presence and deep traditional knowledge, laws and philosophies of the Indigenous people with whom we share this land today.
3. Consideration of Agenda:
Motion: Simon Dallimore/ Sonia Diniz
“That the agenda of the Unit Executive Meeting of
Monday September 13, 2021 be accepted as received.”
CARRIED
4 Consideration of Minutes:
- Minutes of previous Unit Executive Meeting(s)
Motion: Colleen Harrington and Dave Geraghty
“That the minutes of the Unit Executive Meeting of
Monday June 7, 2021 be accepted as received.”
CARRIED
Motion: Sonia Diniz/ Aaron Stemler
“That the minutes of the Unit Executive Meeting of
Wednesday Sept. 1, 2021 be accepted as received.”
CARRIED
5. Report of Unit Executive Officers
(a) Report of the President – Patrick Etmanski
- Oral report from written report provided
- Confirm Executive meeting dates
- Discussion re: in-person / virtual meeting
The president referenced his report and warned members about voicing their opinion about vaccination topics on social media.
Re-opening has not gone smoothly, and the ministry keeps introducing new information and updates. The board believes that the health and safety of others trumps your privacy in connection to vaccination status. The president discussed a memo that sets out OECTAs issue on vaccination. The government makes the rules in connection to vaccination, and this is where the board policies are coming from. OECTA will have any members back into the decision to not to disclose. However, they will need to do rapid testing at home. There is an app that will be used to track testing. There will be three options for members to get their rapid testing: 1) Administrators will be the ones giving teachers there rapid testing, 2) Member can get the rapid testing from HR, or 3) The member can get the testing from the OECTA office.
Political Action: OECTA will put on a YouTube show. OECTA will interview parents and students about important topics related to school.
The unit discussed meeting dates for UE and CAR.
Motion
“That the meeting dates for the Unit Executive be confirmed as per attached sheet:
These meetings will all start at 4:30.”
CARRIED
- Standing Committee liaisons (discussion/volunteer/signup sheet)
- Liaison will call 1st meeting (before Oct 4 UE meeting), report to CAR meeting if Chair not present
- First meeting must include selection of Chair (no sharing this role) and Secretary
- All minutes are to be done electronically and emailed to Cathy
- Once chairs are selected there will be a meeting of all chairs to discuss processes
- Structures Committee task(s)
- CAR Chair
- Virtual Association Rep In-service
- Saturday(s)?
- ½ day
The president discussed the need to hold staff rep training on the Saturday and will receive a gift certificate.
- Staff compensation package:
Motion: Simon Dallimore and Carol Knight
“That the Unit Executive move “in camera” session.
CARRIED
Motion: Simon Dallimore and Sonia Diniz
“That the Unit Executive move out of the “in camera” session.
CARRIED
Motion: Patrick Etmanski/ Mark Devlin
“ The unit executive recommends to CAR a 1% increase compensation packaged to Cathy Kuhn retroactive to the beginning of September.”
CARRIED
- Workplace Safety Inspection (see attached)
The president referenced and showed the inspection to UE. The president explained some of the problems that need to be addressed. The unit executive is getting estimates to fix the two items that need to be corrected.
- Questions to written and/or oral report
(b) Report of Treasurer – Mark Devlin
- Questions to report emailed earlier
The Treasurer read his report. The unit received its first fee return. Moving ahead the unit will open a reserved fund with TD bank.
- Report of Vice President – Elementary – Simon Dallimore
- Verbal report
The VP Elementary referenced his report. WSIB claims are a focus of the unit currently and the VP wants to be included in any WSIB conversations with the board. The VP can help members with this process. Return to work is a contentious issue and a member is entitled to a return-to-work meeting and should have an OECTA release officer present.
Violent incident reports need to be filled out for incidents with parents. Daily screening needs to be checked by teacher and must be completed by parents or the teacher needs to fill out the screening sheet. If a student fails the screening, then the principal needs to make a call.
Google classroom at St. Isidore is a problem. St. Isidore is being told that they can only use teams and D2L.
- Report of Vice President – Secondary – Dave Geraghty
- Questions to report emailed earlier
The VP Secondary referenced his report. The VP explained the difficulty with the secondary model. The VP has already filed a grievance for cancelling prep and planning. The school board is asking teachers to buddy up for washroom breaks. Lunch time is an absolute mess and problematic. The worry is that there is not enough supervision. Hybrid is another major problem and is a disaster. The hybrid model is a workload problem as well. Trustees are shocked about these issues.
Health and safety concerns are another issue. The board only wants members to use medical masks and not their own N95 higher quality masks. Headphones are another problem issue, and the bag has cautions about cancer issues. Members should have the option to face their microphone and camera toward the white board. The VP explains that there will be a lot of grievances this year.
Q: Staffing question. St. Mary’s population is now 2,300 and the classes are getting larger. Will classroom sizes change?
A: The class sizes could change, and more teachers could be hired.
- Report of Vice President Occasional – Jeannette Cowen
- Questions to report emailed earlier
The VP Occasional referenced her report. The VP discussed the hiring grievance and the new hiring that occurred. On August 4th, 2021, the grievance went through, and the board hired 48 supernumerary positions. Elementary will hire an addition 5 people. Elementary OTs need to apply for these positions. The elementary hires are fine, but the secondary hires could face redundancy. Those people who received permanent in July have been leap frogged by the people who were hired as supernumerary. The maternity leave grievance we won will help all units in Ontario.
6. Health and Safety Report:
7. Labour Report: Labour day picnic got cancelled. Please vote in the Federal Election
8. Committee Reports: Written reports may be submitted for inclusion in the “Report of All.” Minutes will be posted on website for review prior to the meeting. Questions can be brought to liaison at this time
9. New Business:
10. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 5:50 P.M.
Next Meeting dates:
Association Representatives
Monday September 27, 2021
ZOOM
4:30 p.m.
Unit Executive
Monday October 4, 2021
In-person or ZOOM
4:30 p.m.