{"id":233723,"date":"2019-10-07T01:59:01","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T05:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=233723"},"modified":"2019-10-07T01:59:01","modified_gmt":"2019-10-07T05:59:01","slug":"ontario-provincial-government-reaches-deal-with-education-workers-avoid-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/10\/07\/ontario-provincial-government-reaches-deal-with-education-workers-avoid-strike\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario provincial government reaches deal with education workers, avoid strike"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Education Minister Stephen Lecce and the bargaining unit for the Canadian Union of Public Employees announced the deal just hours before a midnight strike deadline. (File Photo<\/a>: Stephen Lecce\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO \u2014 A strike that would have closed hundreds of schools across Ontario was averted Sunday night as the province reached a tentative deal with the union representing thousands of education workers.<\/p>\n

Education Minister Stephen Lecce and the bargaining unit for the Canadian Union of Public Employees announced the deal just hours before a midnight strike deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll parties bargained in good faith late into the night and over the weekend to reach a deal that is fair and that is reasonable,\u201d Lecce said, acknowledging that he would have preferred to have done it sooner.<\/p>\n

The agreement comes after weeks of tense contract talks between the government, union and school boards.<\/p>\n

In the days leading up to the agreement, CUPE launched a work-to-rule job action and stopped performing a number of extra duties or working overtime to ramp up pressure. Last week, the union issued a formal strike notice.<\/p>\n

Neither Lecce nor CUPE went into the details of the accord, but the minister praised it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can all leave this deal knowing we’ve achieved some incremental success, and that is important for the students of this province,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions said her side made no concessions. The union was able to retain its sick leave plan, achieved a \u201cmodest\u201d wage increase and also secured the restoration of a key grant fund for schools across Ontario.<\/p>\n

Walton said the agreement will see the Priority School fund restored. That will mean 1,300 to 1,500 jobs which had been cut from the system when the government eliminated the funding late last year, will return to schools, she said.<\/p>\n

Her members will benefit from the deal, Walton said, thanking the minister.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks for opening the piggy bank and allowing us to get the services that we needed for our students,\u201d she said. \u201cThey’ll thank you too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lecce said the new deal \u201cstrengthens the integrity\u201d of the sick leave program.<\/p>\n

The 55,000 education workers represented by CUPE include custodians, early childhood educators and clerical staff \u2014 performing vital roles that at least two dozen school boards said they couldn’t safely operate without.<\/p>\n

Those boards said they would be forced to close their schools during a strike, leaving some parents who were unable to either find or afford additional child care in the lurch.<\/p>\n

Premier Doug Ford said the government’s goal throughout the talks was to achieve an agreement that \u201crespects taxpayers\u201d and students and their families while recognizing the contributions of education workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur government worked tirelessly at the bargaining table to achieve this goal and as a result two million students will remain in the classroom where they belong,\u201d Ford said in a statement.<\/p>\n

CUPE members must still ratify the agreement and the union said voting will take place before the end of the month.<\/p>\n

The president of the Ontario Public School Board Association said in a statement Sunday that the deal recognizes the importance of education workers in the system.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the parties worked hard together at the table to reach a fair and responsible agreement that will keep students in the classroom,\u201d Cathy Abraham said.<\/p>\n

Lecce acknowledged that this is just the first deal the province must reach as contract talks between the province and the unions representing both high school and elementary school teachers continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is a pathway forward for all tables,\u201d he said. \u201cI appreciate there will be difficulty and the angst parents felt really concerned me. I really feel for them that they had to wait for this. I don’t want them in this position at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The negotiations are happening as the government has ordered school boards to start increasing class sizes, moving to an average for high school from 22 to 28 students over four years. Class sizes for Grades 4 to 8 will increase by one student per classroom, from 23 to 24.<\/p>\n

NDP leader Andrea Horwath said that while the government narrowly avoided school closures parents still spent an \u201cunnecessarily stressful weekend\u201d worrying about the talks. That won’t change if the government doesn’t reverse cuts it’s made to the education system.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as the deep Conservative cuts continue we can expect more chaos in our classrooms,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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