Ontario teachers’ unions head into second school year without a contract

Ontario’s teachers will likely be heading back to school without collective agreements in place as the major teachers’ unions say little progress has been made since their contracts expired last year.

With bargaining dates scattered over months, talks between the four major teachers’ unions and the Ford government have lost momentum. The chance they reach a deal by September is unlikely.

President of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), René Jansen in de Wal, said the discussions have been very frustrating so far.

“We started bargaining last July … the fact we’re still here is a bit disappointing,” he said. “I’m used to being in bargaining that’s a little bit more structured for success, [the] odd days that we’re getting aren’t structured for success.”

Since last July, OECTA has had 28 bargaining dates. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) has had 25.

“And we really haven’t made any progress at all,” said President Karen Littlewood. “It’s very frustrating, and our members are very frustrated … We played nice for a year, and we had lots of stability, but we have to make sure people are respected. Over a year without a collective agreement is a problem.”

One of the central issues in negotiations is wages. Littlewood said teachers and education workers have not seen any significant increases “to keep up with the cost of living, inflation over the last, at least, 10 years.”

Class sizes also remain a major problem, with not enough staff to support students.

“Our teachers are quite concerned about the needs of the students, especially post-COVID, and the needs of the schools,” said Jansen in de Wal.

Littlewood said in their 25 meetings, there hasn’t been any movement towards those goals. While they have yet to hold strike votes, she says it’s becoming increasingly likely they may have to if talks keep dragging on.

“That’s something we’d be heading towards. I think it’s really important that we know we have our membership behind us and that we’re going to have to apply pressure if necessary.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Education Minister tells CityNews, “Our government has been bargaining in good faith over past several months with all teachers’ unions and are driven by our goal of securing a deal that keeps kids in class, provides parents with stability, and treats educators fairly.”

“We have increased education funding by nearly $700 million more this upcoming school year, including the hiring of 2,000 more educators,” they added.