High school teachers and the province took another step toward patching things up Thursday with union leaders announcing they’ve voted 96 per cent in favour of an agreement with the government that modifies contracts imposed last year under Bill 115.
“This agreement is the result of a prolonged struggle by our members for their democratic collective bargaining rights,” OSSTF president Ken Coran said in a press release Thursday.
Coran said the deal was reached after eight days of intensive bargaining and that it addresses issues such as sick leave and job security for support staff.
The deal means younger high school teachers will be given better payout for their banked sick days, according to government sources who spoke with The Canadian Press. Teachers with less than 10 years on the job will get 25 cents on every dollar for sick days they banked, compared with 10 cents under existing agreements, the sources said.
Teachers have been furious since the Liberal government used special legislation last year to impose contracts that include a two-year wage freeze on teachers and an end to bankable sick days to be cashed out on retirement.
Since contracts were imposed, some teachers had been participating in a boycott of voluntary extracurricular activities, a practice alternately advised, ignored and discouraged by the union.
On Sunday, Coran confirmed to CP24 that the province and the union had reached an agreement in principle to help ease the labour strife.
In a statement released Thursday, Education Minister Liz Sandals reiterated the deal does not mean new money will be spent.
“The idea of living within the existing funding envelope for education was by no means an impediment to our agreement today,” Sandals said. “Instead, it was a catalyst for innovative thinking, collaborative problem-solving and the renewal of our proud partnership with Ontario’s public high school teachers.”
But the opposition has expressed scepticism, with Progressive Conservative education critic Lisa MacLeod saying the governing Liberals must be giving away hidden concessions in the deal.
OSSTF members will now have the final vote on whether to accept the deal. Voting closes April 18.
- With files from the Canadian Press
