Ontario secondary teachers union rules out strike action to start school year

Contracts with unions representing Ontario education workers are set to expire in less than two weeks, but secondary school teachers are ruling out strike action — at least at the beginning of the school year.

“Absolutely, [Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation] members will be in the school this fall, and we will continue to bargain for the best interest of our members,” said Karen Littlewood, President of the OSSTF.

“I want to be so clear about that. Our OSSTF members will be in the school. We are welcoming students back. So excited to see them in-person face-to-face if that would be possible.”

The current deals will expire on August 31, days before students return to the classroom on September 7.

Union officials have stated they are going after more significant raises to keep up with the rising cost of inflation.

“Gas prices, interest rates, all of that. How are workers supposed to continue?” Littlewood asked while speaking to media following a keynote speech at OSSTF/FEESO Presidents’ Symposium in Toronto.

Premier Doug Ford said teachers could expect raises above the one per cent cap his government imposed when he first came into power. Brown noted that talks are still in the early bargaining stages, and no formal offer has been received.

“We are being respectful. We’re at the table,” said Littlewood.

“The actual at the table is respectful, but what’s happening in the media are continued attacks and indications of what’s going to happen in education as they move to try to protect the system or destroy it.”

CUPE hints at strike action

While secondary school teachers are committed to being on the job when the school year begins, the possibility of future labour action or a work stoppage by high school staff isn’t off the table.

“When you’re being attacked with cuts to education, with failure to meet the cost of living increases, we’re hoping we’re not going to have legislated wage restrictions, but we’re going to have to do what we can to protect education,” said Brown.

The comments come just days after the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) — which represents 55,000 education support workers — floated the idea of a potential strike vote.

That move prompted a harsh response from Education Minister Stephen Lecce, who urged CUPE leaders to put their energy into negotiations at the bargaining table.

Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education for Ontario, makes an announcement in Toronto on January 12, 2022. Ontario is proposing to give education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees who make less than $40,000 a two-per-cent raise yearly. Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette.

“I hope today the union will walk back this needless escalation and just work with us in good faith to get a deal for these kids so they can stay in school,” said Lecce.

A propsal tabled earlier this week in bargaining with CUPE, which would offer a two per cent raise to education workers making less than $40,000 a year and a 1.25 per cent raise to everyone else, gave a first indication of what the Progressive Conservative government is seeking in deals also being negotiated with the four major teachers’ unions.

CUPE has asked the province for annual raises of 11.7 per cent – or $3.25 per hour – arguing workers’ wages have been restricted over the last decade and inflation has been high.

A spokeswoman for Lecce said earlier this week that CUPE is also asking for five additional paid days before the start of the school year, 30 minutes of paid preparation time each day, and increasing overtime pay from a multiplier of 1.5 to 2.

If the terms of CUPE’s proposal was applied to all education contracts, it would cost taxpayers $21.8 billion over the proposed three years, Caitlin Clark said in a statement.

Separate negotiations are also ongoing with unions representing teachers in elementary, french and Catholic schools.

Barb Dobrowolski, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, said she believes the government is “trying to reduce expectations” during the bargaining process.

At the same time, negotiations are still in the early stages and it would be premature to draw conclusions about what might be presented, she said, particularly since the OECTA only represents teachers and not other education workers. Salary has not yet been discussed in the union’s talks with the province, she added.

She stressed, however, that teachers and workers across the province are feeling the pinch as living costs increase.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, meanwhile, said the government’s conduct during bargaining will be a “good litmus test” for its commitment to public education.

“We expect to see a government that bargains in good faith and shows a demonstrated commitment to public education,” ETFO president Karen Brown said Thursday in a speech at the union’s annual meeting.

Editor’s note: One of the quotes in this story was attributed to the ETFO President Karen Brown, rather than OSSTF President Karen Littlewood, it has since been corrected.