Education Minister Laurel Broten has given her approval to a tentative deal between the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) and its 800 high school teachers.
The agreement, which requires the support of the Ministry of Education before it is approved, will come back to be ratified by the board and Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) District 18 members for agreement. The board is expected to ratify the deal on Nov. 27.
“The minister declared our agreement to be workable,” said UGDSB vice chair Mark Bailey. “It has yet to be approved by the ministry. It’s not everything we wanted, but it’s a positive indication.”
Local union bargaining agent Paul Rawlinson said he also welcomed the News that Broten has “given her okay” to the tentative agreement. The union is withholding any details about the agreement until it is ratified by its membership.
The tentative deal also effectively halted all strike action by the teachers, including work-to-rule action.
Rawlinson said he expects the membership will approve the deal. The alternative would have been a provincially-imposed deal if the sides had not reached an agreement by Dec. 31.
“I think the members will sit back and realize the situation we’re in. This deal will be perceived to be better than the other scenario,” Rawlinson said.
The union will inform its membership of the deal this week and expects a ratification vote will be held early next week close to the time of the board ratification.
The board also announced it has reached a tentative contract agreement with educational assistants, early childhood educators, and special program assistants. The workers are also represented by OSSTF District 18.
“It’s believed that deal is the first one reached by a school board and its union in the province,” Rawlinson said.
That deal has been forwarded to Broten for review. Staff covered under the tentative agreement have suspended bargaining sanctions that began on Nov.12.
Talks are still ongoing with other bargaining units, including:
– the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO), representing elementary teachers and occasional elementary teachers;
– OSSTF occasional teachers;
– OSSTF support staff (office/clerical/technical, speech and language, child and youth workers, and social workers); and
– the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing custodial workers.
“Things are looking promising,” for further agreements to be approved at the provincial level, Bailey said.
“We hope this has set a precedent for our agreement and other agreements in the province.”
Teachers’ unions launched a charter of rights challenge of Bill 115, the Putting Students First Act, which gives the government the power to ban strikes and freeze teacher wages for two years.
Unions contend it violates their right to collective bargaining.
