Ontario teachers say ‘not a chance’ of a contract by June

Thestar.com
April 24, 2023

No chance of deals by the end of June -- but also little chance of job action by then either, teacher unions say.

Contract talks between the province and teachers continue at a slow pace, and it is unlikely collective agreements will be reached by the end of the school year, says Barb Dobrowolski, president of the 45,000-member Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association.

But that doesn’t mean there will be any strike action by her members before the end of June, she added.

“I wouldn’t be sounding that alarm bell,” she said in an interview, even though she said there is “not a chance” of reaching an agreement before the summer.

Talks will drag into the next school year, she predicted.

Ontario teachers, and some early childhood educators and other support staff also represented by the teacher unions, have been without a contract since last August.

Late last fall, the province reached a four-year deal with the Ontario school boards’ bargaining unit of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, after a contentious round of negotiations that saw the government introduce legislation that imposed a contract and pre-emptively banned strikes -- which it later rescinded -- and school support workers walking off the job.

Under the province’s two-tier bargaining system in education, unions first hammer out deals with the province and school board associations on major items such as salary. Union locals then bargain with individual boards on more administrative matters.

At Queen’s Park, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the government has held talks with a union every day this week, and “recently in the past weeks and months extended the offering of private mediation”-- a move that helped reach collective agreements with CUPE in the last two rounds of bargaining.

“That’s the right vehicle to accelerate this process and just get it done so we can give stability to parents” and ensure a normal September for students, Lecce said.

“I think we all agree that kids paid a price during the pandemic and the disruptions of recent strikes,” he added. “So let’s come together to get this done.”

Karen Littlewood, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, said when it comes to talks, “there’s not much happening there” and the union is now waiting to schedule bargaining dates in May.

“I think everyone would love to have a collective agreement by the end of the school year, but without that commitment from the government to make sure that the supports are in place for the students of the province,” that won’t happen, she said.

Lecce said he hopes deals can be reached within the next couple of months, but both parties need to work to get there.

“The government is willing and committed to working hard over the coming weeks and months to land deals before June,” he said.

He added he hopes there is no job action because “parents have been clear they want their kids in school.”

In a memo to members, the Catholic teachers’ union said both the government and Catholic board associations are trying to boost teachers’ workload and erode their ability to use their “professional judgment” in classrooms.