TORONTO – Ontario’s public elementary teachers have reached a tentative contract agreement with the province.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce made the announcement Tuesday morning.
“I am pleased to announce that we have reached a tentative central agreement with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO). This agreement brings us one step closer to ensuring there will be no provincewide job actions or strikes in all English-language public schools for the next three years,” Leccee said in a news release.
The tentative central agreement covers the ETFO’s 80,000 teacher and occasional teacher members.
“After 14 months of central bargaining, we’re pleased to be able to bring forward a tentative agreement to our teacher and occasional teacher members that protects their collective agreement entitlements and also addresses key bargaining goals,” says ETFO President Karen Brown in a news release.
Details of the agreement will be shared with ETFO teacher and occasional teacher members on Thursday, November 23, after a meeting with their local presidents and chief negotiators.
ETFO says a ratification vote is being scheduled; details of the vote will be shared with members once they are confirmed.
Meanwhile, the province is still bargaining with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association and with the union representing teachers in the French public system.
Teachers in Ontario’s public high schools have entered binding arbitration with the government in order to get a new contract, eliminating the possibility of a strike.
