Board, OSSTF schedules more talks

Last week’s two-day conciliation session between the board and district high school teachers may not have resulted in a settlement but both sides have agreed to another round of negotiations July 24.
Andrew Hallikas, local Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation president, said both sides spent close to 19 hours at the bargaining table last Thursday and Friday, continuing even after conciliator Vince Knapp left for the airport.
“I feel both sides had good intentions and both sides were willing to give and take,” Hallikas noted Monday. “Neither side has asked for a no-board report, which I feel is a good point.”
“I understand everything went quite well,” noted acting director of education John McLeod, adding at least the conference didn’t come to a dead end. “They feel some progress has been made.”
Hallikas explained talks dealt with at the talks “minor issues” and housekeeping items. The main issues, such as whether teachers will teach six or seven out of eight periods, are yet to be discussed.
“The issue is Bill 160 says we have to teach 1250 minutes a week and we’re ready to do that,” Hallikas said.
But teachers want that extra instruction time to spend with the same students, Hallikas argued, not more students.
“No where does it say in Bill 160 you have to do seven out of eight,” he stressed.
Talks on July 24 will be done without a conciliator. Another session with the conciliator is slated for Aug. 16-17.
McLeod hoped a settlement could be reached quickly, noting the board has to finalize its staffing number soon. But that can’t be done until the main issues are tackled.
“Teaching six out of eight or seven out of eight means a different number of teachers,” McLeod explained.
“It could come right down to the wire,” Hallikas admitted, noting he was willing to spend their entire summer at the bargaining table in order to reach a settlement.
But if talks go badly in July, he added, there may not be much that can be done in August.
“At our next meeting, we’ll probably be in a position where we’ll know if we’ll be able to reach a settlement,“ Hallikas said. “We’re going to tackle the big issues that will make or break the settlement.”