Province should brace for ‘fight of your lives,’ teachers’ union warns

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation says it has reached a deal with the provincial government, avoiding province-wide strikes and other job actions this school year. Teachers at that school were to begin a work-to-rule campaign Thursday, refusing to do any activities that fall outside their contractual duties.

OECTA is concerned about attempts to remove a regulation that requires boards to hire teachers based on seniority and qualifications, which the government agreed to in 2012 to end complaints about nepotism, but only after contract talks with the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association broke down, said Hawkins. “If we cannot get a deal at that table and get it sooner rather than later, … you are in the fight of your lives”, Hammond said.

The Secondary School Teachers’ Federation was in negotiations yesterday and the English Catholic Teachers are expected to resume bargaining today.

He made no mention of wages or benefits in his address.

No details were announced, and the tentative agreement must be endorsed by local OSSTF leaders at a meeting later this week before it will be presented to teachers for ratification.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne took the reins of the province’s Liberal Party in 2013 after a protracted dispute between teachers and the government of her predecessor, Dalton McGuinty.

In a statement, Ontario Education Minister Liz Sandals said “negotiations were challenging on all sides, but it speaks to the dedication and commitment of everyone involved that collaboration prevailed and a tentative agreement was reached”. It was an angry speech to school teachers about “the war on working people”.

In a media launch issued early Thursday morning, the OSSTF stated that they’ve reached a tentative settlement for academics and occasional academics with the Authorities of Ontario and the Ontario Public Faculty Boards’ Affiliation (OPSBA).

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario doesn’t return to bargaining until Sept. 1.

“We will be prepared for anything and everything on Sept. 1”, Hammond said. It was the first negotiation between the boards and the high school teachers in nearly three months.

The unions have warned of co-ordinated job actions if there are not any new agreements when courses resume, however none is threatening a full-scale strike at this level.