Province returns to table with last teachers union without contract
Unprecedented crisis has changed government’s tone, professor says
TORONTO—The Ontario government is attempting to close an ugly round of bargaining as it restarts talks with the only remaining teachers union without a contract, and an expert says the COVID-19 pandemic may create a path to labour peace.
Charles Pascal, a University of Toronto professor and former deputy education minister, says the unprecedented crisis, and the dramatic response that has altered daily life, have also changed the tone coming from the government.
Pascal said Premier Doug Ford’s government has abandoned the inflammatory rhetoric and divisive public bargaining it had engaged in with the province’s teachers unions since last summer, focusing instead on calm, clear pandemic response.
That new approach appears to have had an effect on the onceturbulent talks that led to neardaily walkouts and strikes, closing schools just weeks ago.
“It takes the pressure off so that people can sit at the table, quietly, while attention is being paid elsewhere,” he said. “All of a sudden, the government wants to appear genuine about being fair in every direction.”
In recent weeks, the province has secured tentative agreements with three of four teachers unions that had been without contracts since August.
On Thursday, the government returned to the bargaining table with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), which is the last union without a deal.
But with schools now shuttered until at least May because of the pandemic, and the government and teachers working together to help students learn from home, Pascal said the tension built up between all parties appears to have diminished.
“There’s a kind of fairness that’s arisen on the scene that’s led to deals with the other federations,” he said. “That’s a good thing.”
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the government is ready to work with the OSSTF to reach an agreement.
“The time is now to drive deals with all remaining union partners,” Lecce said in a statement. “We will remain a positive and driving force at the bargaining table, advancing the priorities of parents and students.”