Press Release
TORONTO, Feb. 10 /CNW/ – No one in Ontario wants labour disruption in our schools. Not teachers. Not students. Not parents. Not me. All of us want teachers teaching and students learning.
That’s why I met with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario
(ETFO) and the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA) earlier
today. At our meeting, I presented a new and final proposal from the
government to support four-year collective agreements. I have asked ETFO and
OPSBA for their response by 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 12.
The proposal includes a 10.4 per cent salary increase over four years for
English public elementary teachers – two per cent in each of the first two
years, three per cent in each of the last two years. It also includes all of
the funding supports that other elementary teachers will receive in the last
three years of their provincial framework agreements.
The new proposal addresses ETFO’s continued concerns about preparation
time and supervision. It still contains fair salary increases, more
preparation time, smaller class sizes, more grade 7 and 8 teachers, more time
to do report cards, improved working conditions for occasional teachers and
guaranteed enhancements to benefits.
Most importantly, English public elementary teachers, students and their
parents would be able to look forward to four more years of peace and progress
– right through to August 2012.
Our government has been upfront about its projection of a significant
deficit and is facing very challenging economic times. For example, 71,000
Ontarians lost their jobs in the last month alone.
English public elementary teachers must ask themselves: “In this economy
and with government deficits, will my local bargaining unit be able to secure
a 10.4 per cent salary increase over the next four years without a provincial
framework agreement?”
English public school boards must ask themselves: “In this economy and
with government deficits, would we be able to provide these additional
supports for students without a provincial framework agreement?”
So, I am calling upon ETFO and OPSBA to carefully consider this fair
proposal. I hope to be able to report on Thursday that a framework agreement
has been signed and local agreements can be finalized. In the meantime, our
proposal (http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/nr/09.02/bg0210.html) is
posted on the Ministry of Education’s website so anyone who wants the details
can find them there.
