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BBC News
4 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
North Yorkshire teachers criticise trust move to extend school day
Teachers at a chain of schools have walked out again in opposition to plans to make the school day longer. Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) said the move to extend the day by 30 minutes would bring its 28 sites in line with government the National Education Union (NEU) and NASUWT warned the move would add further pressure on teacher workload and impact recruitment. "No-one here wants to be doing this - we'd all rather be in the class with the kids doing what we've spent so much of our time training to do, and something we're so passionate about," said science teacher Tom Fisher. Centrally-planned lessons covering "life skills" including financial literacy and careers education would take place during an extended morning registration period, OGAT the unions warned their members would still need additional time to prepare."They keep saying they'll give us resources we can just pick up and use, but no teacher does that," said Mr Fisher, who teaches at Outwood Academy Easingwold, North Yorkshire."It sucks that it has come to this." As well as in North Yorkshire, walk-outs have been taking place at Outwood Academy sites across the north of schools currently finish at 14:30 BST, with the trust proposing a later finish to comply with the Department for Education's 32.5-hour week policy."Our members and all staff are already under extreme pressure with workload," said Gary McVeigh-Kaye, of the North Yorkshire branch secretary said the proposal would "add to the recruitment and retention crisis that we've got in education anyway".Under the original proposals, a full-time teacher with a form group allocated to them would be working "two hours or more extra a week with no increase in pay and no real increase in planning and preparation time", according to Toepritz, national executive member for the union, said the trust had since said teachers could use one form-time period a fortnight for planning, but at some schools that would be "in a block at the end of the year, which is no use".The earlier finish time at Outwood Academy Easingwold "worked" for pupils and parents, as well as bus operators, he added. English teacher Jess Hesketh said a key issue was the "one size fits all approach to a really broad and diverse family of schools".Outwood Academy Easingwold's rural location made it "rare within the trust", she said."In terms of transport and the demographic of our students and our staff, it faces different challenges." Alice Cokeham, who also teaches English, said that while teachers were striking during exam season, pupils had been taught the necessary material ahead of the industrial added that pupils would not benefit from an extended school day without more time to socialise."We currently have a 15 minute break in the morning and a 30 minute break for lunch," she explained."In that lunchtime break of 30 minutes, students have to go to the toilet, queue for food, eat their food and also have a bit of fun with their friends."NASUWT representative and science teacher Jeremy Tomlin said: "We already see students are exhausted at the end of the five period day."We think it's going to have a long term impact on student welfare, student health, and also on the retention of teachers."He called for the academy trust to carry out a "proper" consultation with individual schools. 'Constructive dialogue' A spokesperson for OGAT said the trust had "constructively engaged" with staff and trade unions since October, with changes made during a "genuine consultation".The "small" proposed change would bring the school day length "within the government's recommended bracket", they said strikes would "disrupt children's education, especially as the days the unions have chosen for the strikes are all when students are taking GCSEs, exams they have worked so hard for"."We remain open to constructive dialogue and collaborative working, but we must prioritise our students so they get the best possible education." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
National Post
6 days ago
- Health
- National Post
OCEU/CUPE 1750 Awaiting Employer Response as Talks Continue
Article content TORONTO — The Ontario Compensation Employees Union (OCEU/CUPE 1750) spent the weekend in mediated negotiations with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and remains focused on reaching a fair deal that addresses the serious workload and mental health crisis facing frontline staff. Article content The union is awaiting a response from the employer and expects further communication on Monday. Article content 'We've been in talks with the mediator and are standing by, ready to continue bargaining,' said Harry Goslin, President of OCEU. 'We've done our part to keep things moving and are hopeful the employer will respond promptly so we can make meaningful progress.' Article content The union emphasized that the situation remains urgent, with workloads and wages still at the core of the dispute. The Ford government's involvement in setting wage mandates has also made it harder to reach agreement, while the employer continues to push for regressive language that would worsen working conditions. Article content This weekend's negotiations came just days after the release of a troubling new follow-up survey showing WSIB staff are experiencing anxiety and depression at twice the national average, results that reflect a growing mental health crisis. The independent survey, conducted by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW), found that workloads, toxic management, and denial from leadership are fueling burnout across the organization. Article content 'These conditions are harming not only staff, but also the injured workers who depend on us,' said Harry. 'Despite it all, our members continue to show up, speak up, and push for real change.' Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content For more information, please contact: Article content Article content Article content
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
OCEU/CUPE 1750 Awaiting Employer Response as Talks Continue
TORONTO, June 16, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Ontario Compensation Employees Union (OCEU/CUPE 1750) spent the weekend in mediated negotiations with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and remains focused on reaching a fair deal that addresses the serious workload and mental health crisis facing frontline staff. The union is awaiting a response from the employer and expects further communication on Monday. "We've been in talks with the mediator and are standing by, ready to continue bargaining," said Harry Goslin, President of OCEU. "We've done our part to keep things moving and are hopeful the employer will respond promptly so we can make meaningful progress." The union emphasized that the situation remains urgent, with workloads and wages still at the core of the dispute. The Ford government's involvement in setting wage mandates has also made it harder to reach agreement, while the employer continues to push for regressive language that would worsen working conditions. This weekend's negotiations came just days after the release of a troubling new follow-up survey showing WSIB staff are experiencing anxiety and depression at twice the national average, results that reflect a growing mental health crisis. The independent survey, conducted by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW), found that workloads, toxic management, and denial from leadership are fueling burnout across the organization. "These conditions are harming not only staff, but also the injured workers who depend on us," said Harry. "Despite it all, our members continue to show up, speak up, and push for real change." OCEU/CUPE 1750 remains committed to a fair settlement and restoring services for the people of Ontario. As the strike continues into its fourth week, all picket lines across cities in Ontario will remain active. mb/cope491 View source version on Contacts For more information, please contact: Bill ChalupiakCUPE Communications Representativewchalupiak@ 416-707-1401 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Associated Press
09-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
WSIB Rejects Unions Latest Offer
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 8, 2025-- After hearing nothing from the employer for over a week, the union and employer met to exchange proposals, but remain far apart on wages, workload, and employer cuts to seniority rights. The union has made significant movements to try and find a fair compromise, but after significant setbacks, the mediator made the decision to call-off the mediation. OCEU is deeply disappointed that the employer rejected our proposal and hasn't presented their own in over a week. The union amended our proposal in the spirit of negotiation to bring the employer closer to addressing the workload issues which are impacting our members health and well-being. Despite our reasonable offer, the employer still refused to counter our proposal. OCEU/CUPE 1750 remains available to negotiate but needs to see a meaningful move by the employer to meet our members core needs. Picket lines will continue until a fair deal is reached. [email protected] 416-707-1401 mb/cope491 View source version on CONTACT: For more information: Bill Chalupiak, CUPE Communications Representative [email protected] 416-707-1401 KEYWORD: NORTH AMERICA CANADA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: LABOR STATE/LOCAL PUBLIC POLICY PUBLIC POLICY/GOVERNMENT OTHER POLICY ISSUES SOURCE: Canadian Union of Public Employees Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 06/08/2025 11:15 PM/DISC: 06/08/2025 11:15 PM
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WSIB Rejects Unions Latest Offer
TORONTO, June 09, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After hearing nothing from the employer for over a week, the union and employer met to exchange proposals, but remain far apart on wages, workload, and employer cuts to seniority rights. The union has made significant movements to try and find a fair compromise, but after significant setbacks, the mediator made the decision to call-off the mediation. OCEU is deeply disappointed that the employer rejected our proposal and hasn't presented their own in over a week. The union amended our proposal in the spirit of negotiation to bring the employer closer to addressing the workload issues which are impacting our members health and well-being. Despite our reasonable offer, the employer still refused to counter our proposal. OCEU/CUPE 1750 remains available to negotiate but needs to see a meaningful move by the employer to meet our members core needs. Picket lines will continue until a fair deal is reached. For more information, or to arrange an interview with a spokesperson, please contact:Bill Chalupiak, CUPE Communications Representativewchalupiak@ 416-707-1401 mb/cope491 View source version on Contacts For more information: Bill Chalupiak, CUPE Communications Representativewchalupiak@ 416-707-1401 Sign in to access your portfolio
