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District Twelve’s Strike is a Total Swing and Miss

Last October, for the rst time since 1993, the Blue Jays took me on a ride. Bat Flips,etra innin!s and heart break" it #as ma!ical. $oincidentally, % learned that the&econdary 'eachers of 'oronto (istrict &chool Board #ould be !oin! on a )selecti*e+strike on the *ery same day that the Blue Jays broke my heart and stranded the seasonsa*in! tyin! run at third in -$. % ne*er #ould ha*e dreamed that our strike #ouldoutlast the Blue Jays o/season respite. 0nd much like a mea!re )canofcorn+ popythat drops bet#een Joey Bats and 2yan oins, this labour action has shaken my faith inthe likelihood of the batippin! #alko/ endin!.

&ince that fateful and disappointin! October 43rd, #e ha*e spent o*er *e months on)strike.+ 5e ha*e not recei*ed any of our one percent bonus 6not to be added to thesalary !rid7 and our members #ho #ere supposed to mo*e up on the pay !rid e/ecti*e&eptember 1, 481 6for the rst time in three years7 are o#ed a si!nicant amount ofretropay.

:nlike the immediate inyourface success or failure of thickly#alleted pro athletes,

labour action is a lon!!ame. But % think this !ame has !one on lon! enou!h for us tobe able to assess #hether or not this strike is a home run or a complete #hi/.

 'his labour action is a strikeout.

Strike One: Communication

 'here hasnt been any e/ecti*e communication. 0nd not surprisin!ly, the membershipbuyin on this strike is limited at best. 5hile most members are adherin! to the strikerules, they #ould be hard pressed to eplain the reasons for this strike, let alone ar!uecon*incin!ly for its necessity.

 'he total lack of an e/ecti*e )launch;rollout+ #hen the action be!an is deeplytroublin!. 'he membership should belie*e in the necessity of the strike, instilledthrou!h tan!ible reasonin! and persuasi*e lo!ic that e/ects belief and passion inmembers. %nstead #e !et the eecuti*e !raced us #ith school *isits in February and ?archto speak to members about ne!otiations. But #hen they arri*ed they told us therehadnt been any ne!otiations@ so #hy botherA 5hy not come out in October and=o*ember, #hen support for this action needed to be establishedA $ynical me says it#asnt close enou!h to the upcomin! (14 >ecuti*e election. =oncynical me belie*esits ust complete communicati*e incompetence or a total disre!ard for the membership.Cick your poison@ neither theory is acceptable.

5hen the district leadership has sent us emails, it hasnt been to eplain the issues, orpaint a *i*id picture of this labour actions importance, rather it has been to boast.

 'hey tell us that they are )strate!ic thinkers+ #ith a !rand *ision for this strike. 'heytell us that this strike has been so e/ecti*e and is ha*in! a si!nicant impact at theboard 6see strike t#o7, but our leadership still has yet to e/ecti*ely communicate thesi!nicance of the issues to the membership at lar!e. 'hey ha*e at times attempted to

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rebrand this strike, #hen members su!!ested it #asnt *ery e/ecti*e, they startedcallin! it the )slo#burn+ strike. % prefer the ninastrike because the foe doesnt e*enkno# its there. 5hich brin!s me to strike t#o.

Strike Two: Pressure

 'he purpose of any labour action is to eert pressure on mana!ement to #in afa*ourable contract. Cressure is the key. 'he union leadership keeps sendin! us emailsbra!!in! about the boards loathin! of our little strike. 'he proof they o/er in support of their claim is that they*e heard that one principal complained at a meetin! once, andan unnamed source said )the board hates your strike.+

Coppycock. Do!#ash. 0nd a hearty 2OFL.

Dere is the simple truth about pressure. %f you apply enou!h pressure you #ill obser*ean impact. %f you fail to apply enou!h pressure, nothin! #ill happen. Dmmm, so #hathas happenedA 0bsolutely nothin!. By the unions account, the board hasnt e*en

attempted to ne!otiate. 5ere only in the sith month of this slo#burn, hi!hly e/ecti*estrate!ic strike. %f there #as pressure, the '(&B #ould be at the table.

$onsider the etreme, an oldschool picketline and protestsi!n full #alkout, schoolsshutdo#n and students stayin! home. 'he '(&B #ould be purposefully ne!otiatin!.0nd if the boards mana!ement didnt #ant to ne!otiate then the !o*ernin! Liberals#ould be all o*er them to settle the mess. % suspect the same is true of a fulletracurricular shutdo#n. 5e #ould be ne!otiatin! because the pressure #ould besubstantial enou!h to spur the board to sit do#n and come to an a!reement. % am notad*ocatin! for either of these measures in this instance, but it e/ecti*ely illustrates thesi!nicance of adeecuti*e insists that our pressuretactics on the inschool admin. teams !et passed up the chain of command and theboard takes notice. 'hey also tell us that the board is completely dysfunctional,incompetent and autocratic. &o if the )complaints+ actually do !et passed up the chain,#hy should #e belie*e that the boards senior leadership caresA (oes anybody think fora second that the (irector of >ducation cares if a EC trades her or his loafers forsneakers and collects attendance a fe# times a dayA % #ouldnt be surprised if uppermana!ements only response #as to buy '(&B lo!oed pedometers for them.

But the bi!!est y in this strikes pressure causin! ointment is the nature of theadministrators themsel*es. % humbly o/er my critical assessment of the boards hirin!practices for Crincipals@ % dont think too many secuti*e team #ants us tobelie*e it doesnt make it so. &ome#here bet#een a total #alk out and an attendance#alkabout is the ri!ht amount of pressure. 5hich brin!s me to strike three.

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Strike Three: EQAO

Do# did this little nu!!et of crapulence escape our slo#lyburnin! strike rulesA&eriously.

%snt the O&&'F stron!ly opposed to standardied testin!A (oesnt the O&&'F think the

O&&L' is statistically in*alid and nothin! more than political panderin! and anopportunity to name and shame schools in socioeconomically disad*anta!ednei!hbourhoodsA Deck, if you oo!le )OSSTF opinion of standardized testing+ #ontyou nd the follo#in! recommendation )&top pro*ince#ide standardied testin! at all!rade le*els in Ontario.+ in the rst listed resultA

But ud!in! by our strike rules, the (14 >ecuti*e is more opposed to takin! attendancethan they are to standardied testin!.

&trikin! the O&&L' #ould ha*e allo#ed us to stand a!ainst standardied testin! #hilealso depri*in! the board and the ministry of its precious data. %t #ould ha*e actuallyhad an impact and #hile % am not sure it #ould ha*e brou!ht the board to its knees, at

least it #ould ha*e been noticeable and mi!ht ha*e actually had some s#ay inne!otiations. But #e #ill ne*er kno#....unless this asco is still a steamin! pile of slo#burn come net ?arch. ?aybe then, #e #ould ni the O&&L'. %s it inconcei*able that#e #ont ha*e a contract in place by thenA &ometimes the truth is ust sad.

Strikeout 

One key ada!e for e*ery hitter is that you #ould rather strike out on a s#in!, than bylettin! a called strike !o by. 'ruth be told, this article is misnamed, this strike isnt as#in! and a miss, its a called strike. 5e ha*ent e*en taken the bat o/ of ourshoulders. 0nd like the mi!hty $asey at the bat, % #ould rather s#in! and miss than ustsit there #atchin! as % strike out. (istrict 14s leadership, collecti*ely hasnt remo*ed

the bat from its shoulder, but they are tellin! us this strike is a home run. 5e should allkno# better.

2ob &cott0pril 4, 481G

o! Scott is a !ase!all "an and a candidate in the u#coming District $%E&ecutive Election' running "or President( )" *ou would like receive morein"ormation' ask an* +uestions' or o,er *our "eed!ack regarding this articlesend a +uick -hello. to valueadded/osst"0gmail(com or *ou can "ollow0ro!!iescott*( And !e sure to vote on Ma* %1 or Ma* %2(

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