ETFO union, province agree on tentative contract
Catholic teachers also voting on deal
A tentative agreement between the province and its largest teachers’ union is being celebrated as a bit of positive news in the midst of a health crisis that has thrown Ontario’s education system into disarray.
On Friday, education minister Stephen Lecce announced the tentative deal with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), which represents 83,000 elementary public school educators.
“This is good for students, of course for educators — but for parents especially, who want some stability at a time of increasing volatility around us, at home and abroad,” Lecce said in a video posted to social media. “We’re focused on advancing the priorities of parents, of keeping classroom sizes low, of ensuring special education funding flows to those with needs, and of course protecting allday kindergarten.”
The province and ETFO have clashed for months over class sizes, wage and benefit increases, hiring practices and other issues, resulting in rotating strikes and workto-rule action. The details of the tentative agreement, which must still be ratified by ETFO members, have not been revealed.
All four major teachers’ unions in Ontario have been without contracts since Aug. 31 and have engaged in various job actions.
ETFO is the second to arrive at a tentative agreement with the province, following a March 12 tentative accord with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, which has set ratification votes for April 7-8.
“We’re very pleased to hear that there’s a deal, our members will be pleased as well,” said Elizabeth Kettle, president of the Ottawa-Carleton ETFO local. She said the news came as a relief amid the COVID -19 pandemic.
“Everybody has been working very hard.”
Rémi Sabourin, president of the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO), the union representing teachers at French-language school boards, said it was good that ETFO had been able to get a deal.
“Good job on their part. We’re next to try to negotiate something for our members,” said Sabourin, whose union has three days of bargaining scheduled to begin today.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation also has yet to arrive at an agreement with the province. Its president, Harvey Bischof, said future bargaining dates hadn’t been scheduled as of Saturday.
“The safety of people who work in education and their students is kind of forefront of concerns immediately, and then we will address next steps as appropriate,” Bischof said.
OSSTF announced last week it would indefinitely suspend strike actions “out of an abundance of caution and to avoid any potential for miscommunication” during the novel coronavirus pandemic. The union offered the ministry of education “full co-operation and support in any efforts that will help to combat the spread of the COVID -19 virus.”
Ontario’s publicly funded schools have been closed through April 5.
With files from Jacquie Miller and The Canadian Press