Michael Lewis
Dear editor:
The minister of education has been issuing press releases and uttering threats—that allude to her government introducing legislation to avoid “labour disruption” this fall—so that public school boards, and their respective unions, would have to adopt the agreement reached with the provincial Catholic teachers’ association.
School boards and their unions are legislated to bargain in good faith under the Labour Relations Act. The Ministry of Education, and specifically the minister of education, are not required to sign any agreements that are reached, although they can lead—and be part of—the process that produces collective agreements, through the provincial table discussion (PDT) process that this government introduced in 2004, and used again in 2008.
The Rainy District School Board fully intends to bargain in good faith with its unions under the auspices of the Labour Relations Act. Similarly, if the minister wishes to introduce certain conditions within collective agreements, then it should join those discussions through her own PDT process or she (and her government) should stop waving red flags in front of the public and parents by warning of labour disruptions and implement her bullying tactic and introduce the threatened legislation.
Meanwhile, we will continue to bargain in good faith with our unions in an effort to reach collective agreements that serve the best interests of the students, parents, and the communities that we represent.
We will do all we can within our power to avoid any labour disruption, such as being talked about by the minister of education.
(Signed),
Michael Lewis
Chair, Rainy River
District School Board
