NOT IN THEIR CLASSROOMS: CLASS STRUGGLE AND UNION STRENGTH IN ONTARIO’S ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ UNIONS, 1970–1998 by Andy Hanson A thesis submitted to the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Canadian Studies Trent University Peterborough, Ontario 2013 ©Copyright 2013, Andy Hanson ii ABSTRACT Not in Their Classrooms: Class Struggle and Union Strength in Ontario’s Elementary Teachers’ Unions, 1970–1998 This dissertation examines the rise of teachers’ union militancy in Ontario through a case study of the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario (FWTAO) and the Ontario Public School Teachers’ Federation (OPSTF) between 1970 and their amalgamation into the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) in 1998. It uses the archival records of the two unions, relevant legislation, media records, personal collections, and interviews to explore how these two professional organizations became politicized, militant labour unions able to engage with the state and the trustees of boards of education. The Introduction situates the public education project within nation building in a capitalist-democracy and outlines the theoretical influences informing the dissertation. Chapter 1 follows the two unions during the 1970s as they developed into labour unions. The 18 December 1973 one-day, province-wide, political strike achieved the right to strike and established a unique labour regime for teachers. Chapter 2 examines the advance of the unions during the 1980s as they developed labour militancy. At the same time, neo-liberalism was ascending and the post-war social accord was coming to an end resulting in attacks on unions and cuts to social programs. How gender affected the elementary teachers’ unions between 1970 and 1990 is developed in Chapter 3. The FWTAO campaigned for women’s equality on a platform of liberal feminism while the OPSTF followed a unionist path in an effort to convince women teachers to join them. iii Chapter 4 scrutinizes the effect of neo-liberal ideology on education during the 1990– 1995 Bob Rae NDP government and the impact the Social Contract had on teachers. The development of teacher resistance to the neo-liberal state is explored in Chapter 5. Alliances with other labour organizations during the Days of Action campaign culminated in a two-week, province-wide strike in the fall of 1997 against the Mike Harris Conservative government. The Conclusion brings together the findings of the dissertation and suggests future research exploring teacher union strength in the Canadian context. Keywords: Teachers’ unions; Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario; FWTAO; women-only union; Ontario Public School Teachers’ Federation; OPSTF; December 18, 1973; Bill 100; collective bargaining; merit pay; teachers’ strikes; wage and price controls; pay equity; affirmative action; liberal feminism; Baum decision; Rae Days; Social Contract; lean state; Mike Harris; Days of Action; province-wide strike; neo-liberalism; Bill 160; College of Teachers; Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario; ETFO; public sector unions. iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank my advisor, Professor Bryan Palmer, for his continued support during this project. His patience and encouragement have sustained me through the doctoral studies and the writing process. I can only say thank you for all your efforts on my behalf. A special thanks to Suzanne Dubeau, Michael Moir, and their staff at the York University Archives. Without their dedication, the research on the FWTAO would not have been possible. As well, a large thanks to the staff at the ETFO offices for permitting me access to the OPSTF materials and for providing a photocopier. Thank you to Gene Lewis for his permission and to Olesia Romanko for her assistance. An additional thanks to Vivian McCaffrey and Christine Brown for giving me access to their personal collections from the predecessor organizations. Thanks to Leslie Harrington for making a copy of “Teacher Strikes and Sanctions in Canada, 1919–1992” available to me from the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF). I am grateful to Kathie Waterhouse at Collective Bargaining Information Services, Ministry of Labour, Toronto, for providing me with the updates to the booklet. Friends and family, too numerous to mention here, supported me throughout the project, in particular, the late Tim Grew and members of his Network of Independent Adult Learners, especially Ken and Susan. Thank you to my family: to Garth and Sandra for their many meals and a bed, and to Emily for her phone calls. The constant encouragement of Shari has kept me at my keyboard and our times together were my respite. Not least, I am forever grateful for the many walks, bicycle rides, lunches, and v dinners with Patti, John, Shelly, Marvin, and Jayme and to the unwavering support of Madeleine despite her difficult circumstances. Special thanks to Steph VanderMeulen for her editing. This work is dedicated to the many teachers with whom I have worked who understood the importance of their union, to the young teachers who are living through the effects of neo-liberalism, and to Nate and Sami, who will need unions to protect their futures. vi Table of Contents Introduction 1 The Public Education Project and the Formation of Public School Teachers’ Unions 23 The Effect of the Postwar Compromise on Education 28 The Chapters 33 Chapter 1: Teacher Unionism: The Elementary Teachers in Ontario 36 From Professional Organizations to Professional Unions 42 The First Province-Wide Strike: 18 December 1973 52 Labour Subjectivity: Merit Pay 61 Bill 100: The Legal Right to Strike 63 The Beginnings of Neo-Liberalism in Canada 68 The Effect of Wage and Price Controls on Ontario’s Elementary Teachers 70 Preparing for Strikes 77 Changes in Working Conditions 83 The End of the Baby Boom and the Jackson Report 86 A New Generation of Leadership 91 First Strikes: Lambton, Peel, and Brant 98 Entrenching Collective Bargaining 110 Resistance to Wage and Price Controls: Embracing Other Unions 119 The Inconsequential Role of the OTF to Developing Union Strength 129 The End of the Postwar Accord 132 Chapter 2: Elementary Teacher Militancy: Learning to be Labour Unions 141 Pedagogical Shifts: Speed-Up and Intensification 141 Protocols for Resistance 149 The Amalgamation of Toronto Boards: Narrowing Access 152 Davis Unseats the Conservatives: Full Funding for the Catholic System 156 Brian Mulroney: Cuts to Social Spending and Attacks on Unions 159 Elementary Teacher Union Strength: Finding Their Voice 165 Pensions: Employer or Employee Control 173 Reconfiguring the Education Dollar: “You Will Always Find Something if it vii Doesn’t Matter What You’re Looking for.” 178 Kindergarten and Junior Kindergarten: An Uneven Advance 181 Reviewing the 1980s 183 Chapter 3: Gendered Unionism: 1970–1990s 186 The Relevance of Gender 186 Gender in Collective Bargaining 191 The Contributions of a Woman-Only Union 196 Gender in Collective Bargaining Under Bill 100 202 Gender in Power Relations: Affirmative Action and OPSMTF Reaction 207 Pay Equity: Uncoupling Gender from Work 219 Constructing Equal Value in the Classroom 226 Accommodation for Difference: Pregnancy Leave 232 A Place for Women in the OPSTF 237 Gender Rights on the Field of Human Rights 245 Gender in a Neo-Liberal Time: 1975–1998 258 Chapter 4: Politics and Classroom Class Struggle I: The NDP 1990–1995 264 Social Democracy in a Neo-Liberal Era 264 NDP Education Reform 269 Collective Bargaining and Class Struggle: The Peculiar Case of Ottawa 273 Making Teachers Pay: Concession Bargaining in Lambton County 279 The OPSTF Advance: Organizing Drives and Race Relations 287 The Effect of Organizing Efforts 292 Gender in Class Struggle: Achieving Pay Equity for Women 294 Gender and Class Struggle: Affirmative Action 296 Settling the Pension Issue: Teachers’ Control of Their Pensions 299 Undermining Labour Solidarity: The Social Contract 302 Undermining Union Strength: The Social Contract and the “60 Day Provision” in East Parry Sound 307 Class Struggle in a Labour City: The Windsor Strike 323 The Teachers’ Unions’ Relationship with the NDP 331 viii Chapter 5: Politics and Classroom Class Struggle II: Mike Harris And the Common Sense Counterrevolution 335 The Lean State 335 Restructuring and Retrenchment 341 The Apparatus of Neo-Liberal Reform: High-Stakes Testing 344 The Legislative Juggernaut 347 Fighting Against Dismantling of the Welfare State 355 Hamilton Days of Action: Joining with Labour 358 The End of the Social Contract 363 The College of Teachers: Management by Stress 365 Divide and Conquer: Principals, Preparation Time, and Paroian 368 Class Struggle and Retrenchment: York Region 374 The End of Bill 100 376 Bill 160: Class Struggle on a Grand Scale 383 Constructing Teacher Resistance: A Summary 399 Conclusion 403 The Momentum of Neo-Liberalism 415 Bibliography 424 Archival Records 441 FWTAO Records. 441 OPSTF/OPSMTF Records 443 Globe and Mail Digital Archives 455 Toronto Star Digital Archives 456 Personal Collections Brown, Christine, ETFO Coordinator of Protective Services. Office Records 458 McCaffrey, Vivian, ETFO Government Relations Officer. Office Records 458 Interviews 459 ix A Note on Primary Sources The primary data for this thesis was provided from the records of the two unions and government documents. Supporting materials have come from the electronic archives of various newspapers, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation website, and from government websites. The British Columbia Teachers’ Union provided copies of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation records of teacher strike actions across Canada. The few interviews undertaken with former teachers’ union members provided personal reflections on the events of their time and helped to clarify some of the ambiguities contained in the documents. The FWTAO records are housed at York University where they were professionally archived. The FWTAO had made a habit of archiving and storing their records so that a large collection of material was available for research on the women’s union.