With its members here working without a contract since September, the local Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and Rainy River District School Board will begin negotiations early next month.
Local ETFO president Gary Gamsby said last week a proposal has been prepared but noted it won’t be submitted to the board until negotiations begin.
“We’ve been waiting to see what other elementary unions across the province are doing,” he said, adding even local ETFO members have not yet had a ratification vote on the proposal.
Since negotiations haven’t started yet, Gamsby said he couldn’t reveal any of the details as to what the elementary teachers are asking for. But he remains positive about the upcoming talks.
“We always hope things will go well. And we’ve had a good history with our in past negotiations,” he remarked.
But Gamsby added negotiations between boards and ETFO locals across the province have been mixed indicators of how settlements have been going.
“There are some [that went well] but there are just as many that didn’t go very well,” he said.
The main issue with elementary teachers has been dealing with changes to the curriculum, which have resulted in extra training and use of new resource materials.
Given teachers here have been working without a contract for some four months, any possible salary increases likely will be retroactive to the start of this school year.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
