A Woman's Place ... is in her union

We spent last week at ETFO's Annual Meeting. This gathering of delegations from every local across the province is held each August in Toronto, alternating between convention centres; this year it was at the Westin Harbour Castle. Trish and I have been attending AM as Waterloo delegates for several years and look forward to it every summer. It is an amazing opportunity to see our union in action and be part of the decision-making regarding policies, procedures and priorities for the upcoming year. This was also an election year for positions on the provincial executive, so there was extra buzz in the building as we headed into the Wednesday votes. It was a great week, once again - a week of meetings, hours of debates on resolutions, passionate conversations - all in all, it's exhilarating and exhausting, but it is an annual experience of which we are proud to be a part.

Trish and I decided to go down a day early this year to give us a chance to enjoy some time in the big city. That was a great decision! Check-in was smooth on Sunday (unlike the fiasco of last year!) and we were floating in the pool by mid-afternoon! We walked the boardwalk in the evening and had dinner at a lovely casual Italian restaurant right on the water. The smile on Trish's face reflects how we both felt!
The first meetings of the AM are Caucus meetings for special interest groups during the day on Monday. We attended the Equity Caucus (an annual event for us) and I decided to attend the 'Black Members and Supporters' Caucus for the first time. My involvement as a presenter for the 'Rethinking White Privilege' workshop this year is what inspired me to attend. The White Privilege workshop arose out of a discussion at this caucus 3 years ago, so I was very curious to meet the group and listen to their discussions. I took a few notes; here are some of my take-aways from the Black Member caucus:

• the energy and passion of the members of this group are second to none - very impressive and inspiring!
• white privilege affects how our lawyers, accountants and other professionals advocate (or don't) for our members - many of us in the majority group haven't really considered the implications of this
• there is a disproportionate number of teacher allegations toward racialized members and the vast majority are dismissed - this was shocking to hear
• it is so important that the members of our executive, and ideally all attendees to AM, and educators in general, are able to examine issues through a cultural lens - this is something we can all become more sensitive to 
• many women's issues and resolutions have implications for racialized members
• in discussing the upcoming election, we were reminded that equity work is a life-long passion - not a quick statement on promotional materials or in a speech - we were encouraged to question candidates on their commitments and action toward equity issues

Obviously, I was in the minority group at the Black Member Caucus. There is a lot for any of us to learn from being in that position. It is so easy to get lost in your own perspective and to see things through your lens of privilege. I really valued this opportunity at AM. In retrospect, it was that hour during the week that had the most impact on me this year. I was thrilled to meet so many passionate and articulate members and will certainly hold close many of the aha's that I experienced during that discussion. I am also very excited that Karen Brown earned a released position on the provincial executive that Gail Bannister-Clarke gained an executive position seat. These are two strong women members who will bring a lot to the team! This is also historic for our black members and is reason to celebrate ETFO's commitment to equity and inclusion.

Wednesday was election day and we were all thrilled that Sam Hammond's position was not contested, so he will remain our provincial president. He is an amazing leader - strong, motivating, kind, equity-minded - I continue to be so impressed with the unique ability Sam has to be a caring and compassionate human being alongside demonstrating great strength and commitment as our leader. Our local president Greg Weiler was elected to the provincial executive - you can see we had a little celebration party in our hospitality suite that evening! He will make a great addition to this group, along with Nathan Core, President of our local OTs, who also gained a position on this provincial team.

Wednesday evening's banquet was great fun - look who shut the house down at the end of the event!!

On Thursday, all of the delegates wore red shirts for solidarity with our union as we listened to Sam outline the particulars of Phase 2 of the job action for September, as well as share his perspectives about the upcoming return to bargaining. There was energy in the house!!

As the week came to an end, I felt a little ache coming on as I realized that this was my last ETFO Annual Meeting. My place in the union has been a valuable and rich experience and I will miss this involvement tremendously. Sam gave a shout-out to 'last time attendees to AM'. Here I am trying to keep it together as the group applauded us.
As a young teacher, I threw my passions into family and music teaching, and my connection with my union was from the sidelines. That has certainly changed. Over the past few years, my ETFO involvements have been front and centre. And they will leave a hole - not only in my calendar, but in my heart.