2022 – 2026 TOWN HALL MEETINGS

2022-2026 Teacher/Occasional Teacher Tentative Central Agreement
Town Hall Meetings
Monday, December 11, 2023:  Meeting Allocations

 

TEACHER/OT TENTATIVE CENTRAL AGREEMENT
TOWN HALL MEETINGS: FAQs

What are the town hall meetings about?
A 2022-2026 Teacher/Occasional Teacher Tentative Central Agreement has been reached between ETFO, the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA) and the government.  ETFO teacher and occasional teacher members will have an opportunity to ratify this Tentative Central Agreement through an online vote taking place between 9:00 pm (EST) on Monday, December 11 and 8:00 pm (EST) on Friday, December 15.

Two provincial town hall meetings have been arranged for Monday, December 11 to review the Tentative Central Agreement. Members will be provided an opportunity to ask questions during these meetings. The town hall meetings will take place at the following times:

Town Hall #1:          Monday, December 11 (6:30 pm – 7:30 pm EST)

Town Hall #2           Monday, December 11 (8:00 pm – 9:00 pm EST)

All ETFO locals and bargaining units that include teacher and/or occasional teacher members have been allocated into one of these town hall times. Check for the date and time of your local’s/bargaining unit’s telephone town hall meeting.

How do I participate in the December 11 town hall meetings?
There are two ways members can connect to their town hall meeting:

• BY TELEPHONE: A few minutes before your allocated town hall meeting, you’ll receive a phone call at the telephone number ETFO has on file for you. The message will invite you to listen in on the town hall meeting. The telephone number that the call comes from will be 416-800-9227 – it is not a spam call, so please answer it. If you don’t pick up the call, a voicemail message will be left for you with instructions on how to access your telephone town hall meeting.
• ONLINE: At approximately 3:00 pm (EST) on Monday, December 11, members who have provided ETFO with their email address will receive a CB eNewsletter with a link (URL) to their allocated town hall meeting. This link will allow members to connect to their town hall online from a laptop or mobile device (cell phone, iPad, etc.). This online link is being sent to ensure as many members as possible are able to connect to the meeting if, for some reason, they do not receive a phone call inviting them to their town hall or are not able to connect by phone. Because online connections tend to be more robust than telephone systems, ETFO strongly encourages as many members as possible to watch for the CB eNewsletter sent at approximately 3:00 pm on Monday, December 11^, and use the information in that CB eNewsletter to connect to their town hall online (rather than by phone) a couple of minutes before the meeting starts.

ETFO asks that you do not share the telephone number or login information for your allocated town hall meeting with anyone. The town hall meetings are calibrated for a maximum number of participants, so if individuals who are not slated to attend try to call in or log in, it could shut down the town hall meeting and no one will be able to participate.

I prefer to access my allocated town hall meeting online since my phone reception is unstable.  Can I do that?
Yes. At approximately 3:00 pm on Monday, December 11, ETFO will be sending a CB eNewsletter to all teacher and occasional teacher members that will include a link you can use to log in online. To ensure the stability of the system, we ask that you do not share the login in information with anyone.

Which town hall meeting will I be invited to participate in?
The date and time of your town hall meeting is listed above this FAQ.

I don’t think ETFO has my telephone number/email address.  I want to participate in the town hall meeting designated for my local.  What do I do?
Having accurate contact information (e.g., address, telephone number, email address) makes it easier for ETFO to keep you informed about bargaining-related events.

Members who wish to participate in the town hall meeting are encouraged to update their contact information no later than Friday, December 8 at noon by calling ETFO at 1-888-838-3836 during business hours and asking for the Member Records Department. You can also email Member Records at memberrecords@etfo.org.

What happens if I get disconnected from the town hall during the meeting?
ETFO members have two options to reconnect to the meeting:

• BY TELEPHONE: The telephone number to reconnect to the town hall meeting will be provided to you at the start of the meeting. Have a pen/pencil handy so you can write that number down in case you get disconnected.
• ONLINE: Members can use the link provided in the CB eNewsletter sent at approximately 3:00 pm on Monday, December 11 to reconnect to the town hall online.

I’m an ETFO DECE/ESP/PSP/education worker member.  I want to listen in on Monday’s town halls.  How do I do that?
Earlier this fall, ETFO reached a Tentative Central Agreement for education worker members. As part of the ratification process for the Education Worker Tentative Central Agreement, a town hall information meeting was held prior to the ratification vote. Participation in that town hall meeting was limited to our 3,500 education worker members.

In this case, the town hall meetings on Monday, December 11 are about the tentative central terms that apply to ETFO’s 80,000 teacher and occasional teacher members. Participation in these town halls is limited to ETFO teacher and occasional teacher members.

I’m not an ETFO member but want to listen in on the town hall meeting.  How do I do that?
The town hall meetings are for ETFO teacher and occasional teacher members only.

I’d like to ask a question during the town hall meeting.  How do I do that?
Both the telephone and online options for listening to the town hall meetings allow for members to submit questions about the Tentative Central Agreement. Instructions on how to submit questions will be provided at the beginning of the telephone town hall meeting, and will be repeated throughout the meeting.

Can I be reassigned to a town hall meeting on a different date/time?
No.  An ETFO member is allotted to a particular town hall meeting based on the local that they belong to. It is not possible to make reallocations that remove individual members from their local database list.

The town hall meeting date/time is not convenient for me.  What do I do?
A link to an audio file of the town hall meetings will be emailed to members on Wednesday, December 13. That link will be active for the duration of the ratification vote period. This will allow you to listen to the town hall meeting before the end of the online voting period at a time that is convenient for you.

I have a disability that prevents me from participating in the town hall meeting.  What do I do?
If you require an accommodation in order to participate in your town hall meeting, please contact ETFO Collective Bargaining (CB) Communications here as soon as possible.

I have a question about the town hall meetings that’s not included in this FAQ.  What do I do?
You can email your question to ETFO CB Communications here. Due to the volume of emails being received, a response from CB Communications may take up to 24 hours.