Below is the one constitutional amendment being brought to the Spring AGM on May 8th in Bracebridge.
Proposed Constitutional Amendment: Amend article 7.6.1 to increase President’s release from 0.7 FTE to 0.8 FTE. (19 days total in a school year)
| Current Language | Proposed Language |
| 7.6.1 President a) The President of the Local shall be released 0.7 FTE on the salary grid at their grid placement, until such time the position is considered 1.0 by ETFO provincial calculations.
b) The President’s salary shall be paid according to the following: i) Q.E.C.O. placement; ii) all credited teaching experience including contract, long-term occasional, and union release time to a maximum of A4, Step 11 on the Trillium Lakelands Elementary Teachers Salary Grid; |
7.6.1 President a) The President of the Local shall be released 0.8 FTE on the salary grid at their grid placement, until such time the position is considered 1.0 by ETFO provincial calculations.
b) The President’s salary shall be paid according to the following: i) Q.E.C.O. placement; ii) all credited teaching experience including contract, long-term occasional, daily occasional (as of September 1 2023) and union release time to a maximum of A4, Step 11 on the Trillium Lakelands Elementary Teachers Salary Grid; |
Rationale:
According to ETFO’s calculations, a Local must have 200 FTE (full-time equivalent) or more to qualify for 1.0 President release. Locals under that FTE are allocated 103 days (0.531 FTE) for the local President’s release, however 6 days must be used for three 2-day meetings in Toronto each year, leaving 97 days.
One FTE is counted for every 194 days OTs work either daily or LTO. Our current FTE is calculated to be approximately 182 (by ETFO). The calculation used does not account for the number of physical members a Local may have. Currently we have 470 members and those members have filled over 280 posted and over 70 unposted LTOs this year, so far.
The work involved in doing the job of the President to its fullest and in the best interests of all members is greater than 97 days and greater than the 0.7 FTE currently provided. Tracking LTO and permanent postings and records of hire for each to ensure processes are followed;, answering members emails, phone calls, texts and messages; attending Board policy and procedure reviews; attending NTIP; meeting with the Board; sending monthly newsletters; meeting with members; helping members with investigations or job related issues – are just a few of the tasks the president does.
In fact, early in ETFO’s history, an ETFO Annual Meeting motion was passed that gave ALL Teacher Local Presidents (James Bay exception) at least 1.0 release. Many of these teacher locals have fewer members and much lower FTEs than us.
OT Locals have tried to get motions passed at Annual Meeting revising these calculations. Unfortunately, OT voting numbers are small compared to permanent voting numbers so the motions have failed.
There are a number of Locals, both OT and Permanent, that have chosen to increase the amount of release locally. For example, our own permanent teacher local is only allocated 1.25 FTE positions, but pays for 2.0 released officers. Our permanent teacher local has about 685 members. We have 69% of their membership numbers, yet less than half the release time.
This motion would increase the President’s release by 19 days,about 2 days per school month, but would more appropriately reflect the work actually done. I ask you to please support this constitutional amendment at the Annual General Meeting on May 8th, 2024.