Ontario’s English Catholic teachers reach tentative deal with province

With school set to start in just two weeks, the Ontario government has reached a labour deal with another group of the province’s teachers.

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) made the announcement on Tuesday it has reached a tentative deal with the province and the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association.

The deal, which came after several days of negotiations, has to be ratified by members of OECTA, and work-to-rule has been suspended at this time.

OECTA, which represents 50,000 elementary and secondary school teachers in the province, has been in a legal strike position since Aug. 17.

Education Minister Liz Sandals said the deal is the “result of hard work and the willingness of all parties to resolve difficult issues prior to the start of the school year.”

Although Sandals would not comment on the specifics of the deal, she said it is “consistent with the government’s net-zero bargaining framework, meaning any salary increases are offset through the collective agreement.”

Talks were extended into late last week and on Monday after OECTA and the province failed to reach a deal after two days of negotiations the week before.

“We worked hard to address the concerns of our members and believe this agreement will protect them as well as the quality of education in our schools,” OECTA president Ann Hawkins said in a release.

The work-to-rule campaign already began at Bishop Belleau high school in Moosonee, which started classes a few weeks earlier than most schools, but that job action has been suspended, the union said.

Last week, Ontario reached a deal with the province’s 60,000 public high school teachers that will see them get a one-per-cent lump sum payment for the upcoming school year, a one-per-cent raise as of Sept. 1, 2016, and another half-per-cent later on.

The Liberal government is also in negotiations with the province’s public elementary teachers’ union.

Last Thursday, the head of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario’s (ETFO) unveiled the second phase of its work-to-rule campaign, which will roll out the first day of school.

Sam Hammond said teachers won’t participate in any field trips, fundraising activities, meeting or training sessions, professional development sessions or respond to any electronic communications from the principal or vice-principal outside the school day except where student safety is involved.

ETFO officials are expected to resume negotiations on Sept. 1.

The contracts for all Ontario teachers expired last August, and classes are set to start on Sept. 6.

With files from The Canadian Press