Toronto high school teachers bargaining unit opposes deal with province that avoids strikes - Action News
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Toronto high school teachers bargaining unit opposes deal with province that avoids strikes

Leaders of a bargaining unit that represents Toronto high school teachers say they are opposed toa proposed deal between their union and the province in which voluntary binding arbitration, instead of a strike, would be used to resolve outstanding issues.

OSSTF Toronto Teachers' Bargaining Unit Executive shares concern in message to members Thursday

Several green desks with wooden tops sit in an empty classroom facing the board.
A view of an empty classroom in Toronto. In a message to members on Thursday, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation Toronto Teachers' Bargaining Unit Executive says it doesn't support the proposed deal worked out in August by the Ontario education ministry and the provincial union executive. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)

Leaders of a bargaining unit that represents Toronto high school teachers say they are opposed toa proposed deal between their union and the province that would use voluntary binding arbitration, instead of a strike, to resolve outstanding issues.

In a message to its members on Thursday, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) Toronto Teachers' Bargaining Unit Executive said it doesn't support the proposed deal worked out in August by the Ontario education ministry and the provincial union executive.

The deal "provides a pathway to resolve outstanding bargaining issues" that can include binding interest arbitration but cannot involve the use of strikes or lockouts. Under the deal, both sides would continue bargaining until Oct. 27, at which point they would enter into binding arbitration to resolve any remaining issues.

"We have concerns about voluntarily entering into a binding arbitration process that eliminates our right to strike or take other job actions such as selective withdrawal of services," the bargaining unit executive said in the message.

"The ability to strike or withdraw services is one of the cornerstones of the labour movement and has been hard fought over the years. To voluntarily give up that right has the potential to set a dangerous precedent for education workers and the entire labour movement."

OSSTF members are set to vote on the proposed deal in a provincewide online vote from Sept. 8 to27.

The bargaining unitrepresents contract secondary teachers, adult day school teachers, and continuing education teachers in the secondary panel of the Toronto District School Board.

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce speaks at a news conference at St. Robert Catholic High School in Toronto, on August 4, 2021.
Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce speaks at a news conference at St. Robert Catholic High School in Toronto on August 4, 2021. (Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press)

The bargaining unit said the "pathway" means union members will not be able to vote on a final agreement between the union and province because there would be no ratification vote. The proposed processis a "significant departure" from previous bargaining, it added.

"In essence, members are being asked to vote on an agreement before it is finalized," the bargaining unit executive said.

"We are concerned that this might have a serious impact on solidarity, on our capacity to organize our members, and on building collective actions going forward."

The bargaining unit executive said it is not directing members on how to vote but it is sharing its concerns. It urged members to attend a town hall on the issue in Toronto on Sept. 20.

Deal would provide stability, province says

A spokesperson for Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce, said in a statement on Thursday that the proposed deal would provide the public education system with "stability" while bargaining continues.

"Our government reached a tentative four-year agreement with OSSTF on a process to avoid strikes and keep kids in class. While we will respect the ratification process, our government is determined to keep kids in class for the next three years without the threat of strikes," Grace Lee said in the statement.

"We call on all remaining unions to agree to this framework to provide stability to Ontario parents with three uninterrupted years of learning for their children."

OSSTF president Karen Littlewood said she knew some members would like the proposal and some wouldn't, but the union will know when voting concludes Sept. 27 what members are thinking.

"I believe as the president, and my executive strongly believes, this is the best possible pathway for us to have a deal right now in September of 2023," she said.

Strike votes planned

Littlewood previously saidthe proposalestablishes "a clear pathway forward in this round of bargaining that could potentially end in arbitration. If accepted, the proposal provides that there will be no job action or lockouts during this round of bargaining."

Littlewood has also said the proposal would also give OSSTF members a remedy for "wages lost" under a wage restraint law known as Bill 124. That 2019 law capped salary increases for teachers and other public sector workers to one per cent a year for three years.

A woman looks into the camera for a headshot photo.
Karen Littlewood is a special education teacher from Barrie and is the president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation. (Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation)

If the proposal is rejected, negotiations would continue but the OSSTF would also take a strike vote to see if members want to exert the pressure of possible job action at the bargaining table, Littlewood said.

"We don't have to end up at an arbitrator," she said.

"I think it would be wonderful if the government took this as a sign and said, 'Yeah, you know what, let's put some substantial items on the table.'"

The unions representing public elementary teachers, English Catholic teachers and teachers in the French-language system all said they could not consider adopting that process at this time.

With files from The Canadian Press