Toronto/CMEDIA: Bargaining talks have begun between the government of Ontario and a major education union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents 55,000 Ontario education workers as scheduled on Monday morning.
Negotiations by the Education unions will take place this summer as existing contracts are set to expire on Aug. 31.
CUPE’s Ontario School Boards Council of Unions’ central bargaining committee said this month that it hoped to negotiate a deal that offers more support for students as well as makes sure workers’ pay is not eroded.
A memo from the assistant deputy minister of education was also referenced in a July 7 statement that said about the province’s contemplation of the replacement of the existing three-year terms with four-year terms for education sector collective agreements which would facilitate students catch up after COVID-19 disruptions
The memo also asked for input from bargaining agencies on the options of contracts lasting two, four, or five years.
Changing the contract terms, suggested CUPE suggested would not only benefit the Progressive Conservatives’ re-election bid in 2026, education workers’ focus on getting a better deal would also improve the educational experience for students and makes life more affordable for them.
After the reelection of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s Tory government in June, Education Minister Stephen Lecce has returned to the file.
The previous four years witnessed the government’s poor relationships with the unions resulting in the teachers staging strikes and work-to-rule campaigns during the last round of negotiations.
The tension was mainly due to Bill 124, legislation that capped compensation increases for public sector workers at one percent annually.
Although Ford said last month that teachers would be getting a raise bigger than one percent, he also warned that he wants students to be in classrooms in the fall and not out of school or missing extracurriculars due to labor disruptions.
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