The Teaching Profession Act requires all secondary school teachers employed by Ontario public school boards to be members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, and so you will automatically become a member of OSSTF/FEESO when you are hired as a contract or occasional teacher in a public secondary school; there are no forms to fill in! In addition, thousands of other educational workers have chosen to join OSSTF/FEESO. All union members do pay union dues, but these are deducted automatically from your pay cheque, are geared to your income level (1.3% of gross salary), and are tax deductable.
During the Federation Day presentation at your faculty of education, you will hear about OSSTF/FEESO and what it will mean to be a member of the best and strongest education union in Canada, and about the services you will get for your union dues, We believe in and practise grass roots democracy, with expert advice available whenever members ask for it. You can explore these ideas further in the askOSSTF section of our website. To find out when your Federation Day is scheduled, check the schedule listed under Related Links below.
OSSTF/FEESO exists to promote and advance the cause of public education and the rights of students, educators and educational workers. Education is more than textbooks and curriculum. It is a life changing experience. At the centre of the education team is the student – the reason that the team exists and many types of educational workers are needed for a full service school model to work. Explore more about these priorities in the Public Education section of our website.
Teachers and education workers need the protection of a strong collective agreement, actively enforced, through grievance whenever necessary. OSSTF/FEESO collective agreements guarantee that you will be treated fairly by your employer, including negotiated protections for how you will be evaluated, your salary and benefits, and all-important workload provisions which protect learning conditions for all secondary students. (To find out more about how you will paid visit OSSTF/FEESO Certification Presentations.)
OSSTF/FEESO also has a presence in social media also. We encourage you to explore the various videos available on the OSSTF/FEESO YouTube channel. (Be sure to watch “The School Zone” in particular!) We have also created an OSSTF/FEESO Facebook page; if you have a Facebook account, check us out and feel free to “Like” us. Follow us on Twitter.
The following related links and attachments provide a wealth of additional information and resources that you will find directly useful as a teacher candidate. You are encouraged, however, to explore the entire OSSTF/FEESO website to gain a deeper understanding of who we are, what we stand for and the wide array of services we provide to all of our members.