After an intensive weekend of negotiations, a tentative deal has been reached for a new central agreement, following talks between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the provincial government and the Council of Trustees’ Associations (CTA).
CUPE officials say the new deal secures services for Ontario students and improves working life for 55,000 education workers, who are represented in central bargaining by CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU).
The agreement also ends current work-to-rule job action by CUPE education workers and averts a province-wide strike that might have begun Monday, CUPE officials added.
“We have secured a settlement that invests in high-quality services for students in Ontario’s schools, now and for the future,” stated Laura Walton, president of OSBCU, which bargains centrally on behalf of the union’s education workers, in a press release.
“At the same time, it ensures that our members have secure jobs, decent benefits, and paid leave when they’re sick or injured. It’s what our education workers deserve.”
The tentative agreement, which must still be ratified by CUPE members in 109 bargaining units, restores many of the cuts made to education services earlier this year, CUPE officials stay.
“It includes investment in jobs and services through an enhanced Local Priorities Fund. CUPE education workers will also retain their existing sick leave plan. The union will not disclose specific details of the tentative settlement until CUPE education workers have had the opportunity to review its contents and vote on the agreement,” CUPE officials stated in a media release.
Walton says she and her bargaining team were pleased that they were able to bargain a freely negotiated collective agreement to recommend to CUPE members.
“We are grateful to CUPE education workers and leaders, as well as to parents, families, and allies, for their tremendous support throughout the central bargaining process,” Walton said.
“Your loud support of public education, and of our work in particular, enabled us to reach a deal without a strike.”
Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, was pleased with the tentative agreement with CUPE.
“Parents can rest easy knowing that the Government worked tirelessly to ensure their children remain in the classroom, where they belong,” Lecce said in a media release.
“That is why I am pleased to announce that a tentative agreement has been reached between the Crown, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), and the school board trustee associations, that keeps kids in class.”
Lecce added: “The Government has remained a constructive force at the table with one mission in mind: keeping students in a safe and positive learning environment. By negotiating in good faith, all parties have demonstrated that a tentative deal can be achieved.”
Lecce says this is welcome news for families, students, and workers alike, as schools remain opened across our province.
“We will continue to negotiate in good faith to ensure students in this province remain in class,” he said.
Kids are in class this morning, where they belong. #ForTheStudents #onpoli pic.twitter.com/xAnaKwaqib
— Stephen Lecce (@Sflecce) October 7, 2019
Premier Doug Ford also released a statement on the tentative agreement.
“Throughout this process our goal has been to establish agreements that respect taxpayers, students and families, while also recognizing the important contributions of our front-line education workers,” Ford said in a media release.
“Our 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. On behalf of the Government of Ontario, I am proud of the work Minister Lecce has done to achieve our goals and we will continue to negotiate in good faith with all of our bargaining partners.”
Both the Lambton-Kent District School Board and the St. Clair Catholic District School Board announced the tentative deal late Sunday evening, adding that all of their schools would be open on Monday morning.
“We thank our parents/guardians and staff for their patience and support through the uncertainty of the past week,” the two schools boards said in a statement released to the media.
