Juno News - September 03, 2020It’s time for regular teachers to take back control of their unions
Episode Stats
Words per minute
204.0224
Summary
Teachers' unions have been doing everything they can to present obstruction tactics against the government. They do not have a can-do attitude, unlike every other sector, including essential workers, who has been doing what they can, been nimble, turning on a dime to provide Canadians with the services that they rely upon.
Transcript
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We've been told since March, hashtag, we're all in this together. We got to rally together and
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do what we can to get over these pandemic hurdles. But it looks like one group of people did not get
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the memo or are choosing to ignore it. I'm talking, of course, about teachers, or I should
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clarify, their representatives, teachers' unions. All across Canada, but particularly in Ontario,
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teachers' unions have been doing everything they can to present obstruction tactics against the
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government, against the school boards. They do not have a can-do attitude, unlike every other sector,
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industry out there, including essential workers, who has been doing what they can, been nimble,
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been, okay, let's give this a shot, let's give it a try, turning on a dime to provide Canadians with
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the services that they need, that they rely upon. It's quite remarkable to be seeing all of this
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unfold. Ontario Premier Doug Ford calling on them to stop the sky is falling, the apocalypse
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rhetoric. Please learn to work with us. And I think they make a very good point. You know,
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I was reading a feature in Toronto Life magazine about all of this work action unfolding just prior
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to the pandemic. In Ontario, there was job action just before the lockdown spread, and teachers were
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protesting, they were doing rolling strikes. And they actually quote a couple union representatives
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in that piece who say, oh, we were really, really saddened by this pandemic because, you know,
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we have a natural dig in your heels and fight no matter what attitude. And with the pandemic,
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we thought, oh, well, it would probably be bad PR if we were that aggressive against the
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governments. Oh, too bad. We have to turn it down, tune it down a little bit. That was their first
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thought. That was their thought, not concerns about the kids or the classroom or the broader public
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health of our society, but that they have to tone down the constant conflict rhetoric that they have.
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And like I said, it's important to distinguish between teachers and teachers' unions. I find it hard
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to believe that all the teachers that I know, great people, and I really am always impressed
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by how they talk about their work and their commitment to their work, that they go along
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with all of this. But at a certain point, you have to say, these are your representatives,
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your elected representatives. Why do you continually stand for this? I think part of the problem is that
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all those teachers, and I believe it's the vast majority of them who are doing this, doing their jobs
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because they want to do a good job and they care about the students and they care about positive
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outcomes, not enough of them are actually involved in the union process. This is a very typical thing
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that people who vote for student union elections, who vote for a lot of these sort of union elections,
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teachers or what have you. I mean, I remember watching it unfold when I was a student at U of T
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and their student union stuff. Most people do not vote in those elections unless they are activist
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minded, unless they are already a part of that tight coterie of individuals who want to do
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this agenda-driven stuff. So enough is enough. I think the regular decent teachers out there say,
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I don't want anything to do with all these union antics. I just want to be a good teacher.
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Look, I hear you. I'm with you. But you've got to get in the game more. You've got to set your union
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straight and you guys have to start organizing and you have to take back your union because right now
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the whole union is starting to make all teachers look bad. And quite frankly, I think that's wrong