Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario
AbbreviationETFO
Formation1998 (1998)
Merger of
TypeTrade union
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada
Location
Membership
83,000
President
Karen Brown
General secretary
Sharon O'Halloran
Affiliations
Websiteetfo.ca

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO; French: Fédération des enseignants et des enseignantes de l'élémentaire de l'Ontario, FEÉO)[1] is a labour union representing all public elementary school teachers, occasional teachers, and some designated early childhood educators (DECEs) in the Canadian province of Ontario. The union has 76 local chapters in the province, and over 83,000 members. The union was founded on July 1, 1998, by the merger of the Federation of Women Teachers' Associations of Ontario (FWTAO) and the Ontario Public School Teacher's Federation (OPSTF).

ETFO's 83,000 members join the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (representing approximately 8,000 members), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (representing approximately 45,000 members) and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (representing approximately 60,000 members) to form the Ontario Teachers' Federation.[2][3] ETFO is also a member of the Canadian Teachers' Federation.

Governance

The governance framework is outlined in a number of different documents including the Bylaws, Constitution, Human Rights Statement, Policy Statements, Position Statements, and Equity Statement. These documents form the framework for how ETFO is governed and what it sets out to accomplish for its members.

Provincial Presidents

TermNameLocal
2021–PresentKaren BrownElementary Teachers of Toronto Local
2009–2021Sam HammondHamilton-Wentworth Teacher Local
2007 - 2009David CleggYork Region Teacher Local
2002 - 2007Emily NobleAlgoma Teacher Local
1998 - 2002Phyllis J. Lennox (née Benedict)Kawartha Pine Ridge Teacher Local

[4]

Karen Brown

Toronto teacher Karen Brown was elected president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario in 2021. Brown has served as ETFO first vice-president since 2015 and was first elected to the provincial Executive in 2009. Brown is the first Black president to be elected to a provincial teacher affiliate union in Ontario and the first known Black president to be elected to a provincial teacher affiliate union in Canada.

Provincial Executive

ETFO's provincial organization includes four fully released officers: President, First Vice-President, Vice-President Female and Vice-President. All four of these officers are ETFO members (teachers, occasional teachers, DECEs or other educational professionals) that have been released from their teaching duties for their term in office.

In addition to the 4 released officers, ETFO's provincial governing body includes one representative to the Ontario Teachers' Federation (OTF Table Officer), and as many additional officers required to make up the 14-member Executive. Of those remaining positions, 4 of them are open to women only.

All Provincial Executive positions are elected by the general membership at ETFO's Annual Meeting held each summer in August. All terms last 2 years.

Executive, 2023–2025

NamePositionLocal
Karen BrownPresidentElementary Teachers of Toronto Local
David MastinFirst Vice-PresidentDurham Teacher Local
Gundi BarbourVice-PresidentUpper Grand Teacher Local
Shirley BellVice-PresidentKawartha Pine Ridge Teacher Local
Nathan CoreOTF Table OfficerWaterloo Region Occasional Teacher Local
Mary FowlerExecutive MemberDurham Teacher Local
Mike ThomasExecutive MemberThames Valley Teacher Local
Carolyn Proulx-WoottonExecutive MemberGrand Erie Teacher Local
Tamara DuFourExecutive MemberHamilton-Wentworth DECE Local
Juan Yahya GaireyExecutive MemberPeel Teacher Local
Shideh HoushmandiExecutive MemberHamilton-Wentworth Teacher Local
Mario SpagnuoloExecutive MemberGreater Essex Teacher Local
Jenn WallageExecutive MemberWaterloo DECE Local
Sylvia van CampenExecutive MemberUpper Canada Occasional Teacher Local

[5]

Non-elected positions

NamePosition
Sharon O'HalloranGeneral Secretary
Lisa MastrobuonoDeputy General Secretary
Lorna LarmourDeputy General Secretary

[6]

ETFO locals

Each school board in Ontario has at least 1 ETFO Local serving members who work within that school board. Teacher Locals are present in all school boards. 1 board (James Bay) has only a Teacher Local, 10 boards have DECE (Dedicated Early Childhood Educator) Locals, 2 boards have ESP and one of those 2 (Renfrew County) also has a PSP Local.

The objectives and priorities of ETFO are contained in the constitution:

While all boards now have DECEs as a result of the implementation of Full Day Kindergarten for children aged 4 – 6, not all of those educators are represented by ETFO.

RegionTeacher LocalOT LocalDECE LocalESP and PSP Local
AlgomaTeacherOT
Avon MaitlandTeacherOT
BluewaterTeacherOT
DurhamTeacherOTDECE and Catholic DECE
Grand ErieTeacherOTDECE
Greater Essex CountyTeacherOT
HaltonTeacherOTDECE
Hamilton-WentworthTeacherOTDECE
Hastings-Prince EdwardTeacherOT
James BayTeacher
Kawartha Pine RidgeTeacherOT
Keewatin-PatriciaTeacherOT
LakeheadTeacherOT
Lambton KentTeacherOT
LimestoneTeacherOT
Near NorthTeacherOT
NiagaraTeacherOT
Ontario North EastTeacherOT
Ottawa-CarletonTeacherOT
PeelTeacherOT
RainbowTeacherOTDECE
Rainy River DistrictTeacherOTESP
Renfrew CountyTeacherOTESP and PSP
Simcoe CountyTeacherOTDECE
Superior GreenstoneTeacherOT
Thames ValleyTeacherOT
TorontoTeacherOTCatholic DECE
Trillium LakelandsTeacherOTDECE
Upper CanadaTeacherOT
Upper GrandTeacherOT
Waterloo RegionTeacherOTDECE
York RegionTeacherOT

[7]

Advocacy and equity

ETFO has been seen as a leader among teachers' federations on equity issues. With 80%+ female members, ETFO is particularly active in its support for women's participation and leadership.

The ETFO Executive has adopted this definition of equity:

ETFO recognizes that we live in a society characterized by individual and systemic discrimination against particular groups. Within this context, ETFO defines equity as fairness achieved through proactive measures which result in equality for all.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Artuso, Antonella (December 10, 2012). "McGuinty 'trivializes' teachers' fight: ETFO". Toronto Sun. Sun Media. Archived from the original on 2012-12-14.
  2. ↑ Welcome to ETFO, Published by ETFO, Toronto, ON (2011)
  3. ↑ Reshef, Yonatan; Rastin, Sandra (2003). Unions in the time of revolution. University of Toronto Press. p. 87. ISBN 0-8020-8753-1.
  4. ↑ 2011/12 ETFO Reference BOOK, Member Involvement Section
  5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20151025231731/http://www.etfo.ca/aboutetfo/provincialexecutive/pages/default.aspx. Archived from the original on 2015-10-25. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ ETFO Reference Book 2019-2020
  7. ↑ ETFO Reference Book 2015-2016
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.