TENTATIVE DEAL FOR TEACHERS
One down, three unions to go
One of the four Ontario education unions that has been engaged in strikes and work slowdowns for months has reached a tentative contract with the government and association representing school boards.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) said the deal was reached Thursday but did not release any details pending ratification by its 45,000 members.
The union will suspend labour action in the meantime.
It’s the first hint of good news in the protracted and contentious contract bargaining between the government and the four education unions, whose 200,000 members have been staging one-day strikes and work slowdowns for more than three months.
The unions have been fighting the government’s moves to make classes larger, introduce mandatory online courses for high school students, and impose a one-percent annual salary increase using wage restraint legislation.
Education Minister Stephen
Lecce recently backed down on some of those proposals, promising to freeze class sizes at this year’s level and add a parental opt-out for the mandatory online courses for high school students.
Earlier, he had agreed to maintain the current full-day kindergarten with a teacher and an early-childhood educator, which was a major issue among elementary teachers.
Lecce had also proposed changes to teacher hiring rules to put less emphasis on seniority, saying merit should be the primary consideration.
The president of OECTA, Liz Stuart, had said earlier that the union had agreed months ago to the government’s one-per-cent wage increase, while continuing a legal challenge to the wage-restraint legislation as a violation of collective bargaining rights.
Two of the other education unions — representing English public elementary teachers and teachers in French-language school boards — were also back to bargaining this week.
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