As bargaining continues between the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Government of Ontario, time is running out to reach an agreement on a new contract for elementary school teachers. On Oct. 21, 2015, the Ontario government revealed that it had paid $1 million to the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) and $500,000 to the French language labour organization, AEFO, in an attempt to garner a resolution from the two groups. The money was meant to cover the costs incurred by the unions through the collective bargaining process. Both of these groups have now reached a resolution with the Ontario government, and the ETFO, which represents 78,000 elementary school teachers in Ontario, remained the outlier after a marathon round of negotiations.
Though a Nov. 1, 2015 deadline was set to ensure a fair deal between the ETFO and the provincial government, an agreement had not been reached as the deadline passed. The Ontario Liberal government put more pressure on the ETFO to reach a resolution by allowing school boards to begin docking pay from striking teachers after they are given a five-day notice.
While the official memo has not be sent to school boards yet, Premier Kathleen Wynne issued this ultimatum on Oct. 23, 2015 and has stood by her decision, in an attempt to get teachers to resume performing all aspects of their jobs. Over the past two weeks, more steps were taken by teachers to put pressure on the government, though the possibility for a full-on strike has remained off the table. Extracurricular activities are no longer run at most schools, while support staff have limited their involvement in the maintenance and upkeep of elementary schools province-wide in support of elementary school teachers. The ETFO and the provincial government bargained through the Halloween weekend to try and hammer out a contract before Nov. 1. Talks continued throughout the morning of Nov. 2, 2015, and as of Nov. 4, a tentative agreement has been reached between the Government of Ontario and the ETFO.
Ontario elementary school teachers have been working without a contract since August 2014, and both the ETFO and the provincial government are still trying to reach an agreement on key issues like class sizes, hiring practices, preparation time, and salaries. While union leaders brought up the option of one-day rotating strikes during earlier October 2015 meetings, there has been no timeline given on when these strikes would begin.