The Canadian Press
Allison Jones
TORONTO–Ontario’s elementary school teachers and education workers have agreed to extend their contracts by two years, leaving the Liberal government nearly free of teacher negotiations ahead of the next election.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario was one of the last major education unions to agree to such a deal, joining the French teachers’ union, several support staff unions, and the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association.
The ETFO says if ratified, the contract extension will improve the working conditions of its members and the learning conditions of students.
Education minister Mitzie Hunter noted the government is in communication with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation about a contract extension, but no dates currently are scheduled for formal talks.
The current contracts with teachers and support staff were set to expire this August, so these new deals would last until August, 2019–well after the June, 2018 election.
A new bargaining system leaves a handful of local teachers’ unions in an odd position.
The last round of negotiations were the first in which the unions reached central deals with the government, then local deals were to be bargained with each school board across the province.
There still are five local deals–out of 471–that still have yet to be reached.
The Thunder Bay Elementary Unit is among, with the remaining sticking point being over internal hiring and movement, said president Aldo Grillo.
“Obviously, I don’t think that was ever contemplated or imagined that 15 months later, there would still be units without a collective agreement,” he noted.
The Thunder Bay OECTA occasional teachers, as well as the regular elementary teachers and occasional teachers with OECTA in the Niagara Catholic board, and Canadian Union of Public Employees education workers with the Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien, also are without deals.
The latter group also has given notice of a strike, set to begin Sunday.
