Catholic teachers’ union reaches tentative deal with province

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) has reached a tentative deal with the province.

In a statement, Liz Stuart, President of OECTA confirmed they have reached “a tentative agreement with the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association and the Government of Ontario on central terms for a new collective agreement.”

Details of the agreement will remain confidential pending ratification of the deal.

If the deal is recommended for approval, Catholic teachers will participate in a province-wide vote on April 7 and 8.

All OECTA strike action will be suspended during the ratification process.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce said that moving forward he is focused on getting agreements with the other teachers’ unions.

“We believe that it hopefully will build momentum for future deals,” he said.

All of the four major unions have been engaging in various rotating and provincewide strikes over the past several months of bargaining and have been trading public jabs and rhetoric with the government.

But negotiations resumed this week with all unions except the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation after Education Minister Stephen Lecce made recent concessions on two key issues.

The government offered to increase average high school class sizes from 22 last year to 23 next year instead of the government’s original target of 28, and allow an opt-out for e-learning courses it previously said would be mandatory.

But the government had said it was not budging beyond an offer to increase wages and benefits by one per cent per year – the unions have asked for two per cent on salary and around six per cent on benefits – and that it wanted concessions on a regulation that dictates seniority-based hiring.

OECTA previously said it would accept the one per cent wage increase if the province backed down on class sizes and mandatory e-learning, though it would continue with a court challenge to government wage restraint legislation.

All of the teachers’ unions and many other unions and labour groups are challenging the legislation as unconstitutional, arguing it violates collective bargaining rights.

Meanwhile, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario was negotiating Thursday with the government for the second day in a row, after talks went late into the evening Wednesday.

ETFO also announced Thursday it would suspend rotating strike action, set to begin on March 23, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The province also announced Thursday it would close all public schools for two weeks following March break, meaning they will reopen early next month.