Catholic teachers send salary to arbitration

The tentative deal between Ontario’s Catholic teachers and the province leaves a number of issues to be decided by binding arbitration — including salary — and rules out any strikes until it expires in 2026, the Star has learned.

In documents shared with members on Saturday, obtained by the Star, the deal includes $33.79 million to fund 320 more positions and keeps the status quo on sick leave, but no agreement on compensation, benefits funding, class sizes, paid leaves, supply teacher working conditions, hybrid learning and the opt-out process for secondary students who are expected to take two online courses before graduation. Those issues, among others, are to be sent to an arbitrator.

The deal with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, announced last Tuesday, took the longest to reach with the much larger Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation and the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario signing off on contracts last fall. They too sent the issue of wages to arbitration.

The Catholic teachers’ tentative contract also states that seniority must be considered in 50 per cent of hires and that when hiring teachers for long-term supply positions, boards are required to hire from the three qualified appli- cants with the most seniority.

This is a holdover from the controversial — and now revoked — Regulation 294, which forced boards to hire from among the most senior applicants for longterm and permanent positions.

The Catholic teachers’ deal — like that of the public secondary teach- ers — will send any outstanding issues in local bargaining to arbitration, meaning no strikes or lockouts.

Catholic boards will vote to ratify the agreement on April 2.

The province has also reached a settlement with the smallest of the four teacher unions, Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens.