The Ontario government will attempt to end a months-long dispute by imposing contracts on its public school teachers, Education Minister Laurel Broten announced this morning.
Using powers the government gained under controversial Bill 115 last fall, Broten said the government will force contracts on about 130,000 elementary and secondary school teachers.
The agreements will be similar to deals signed by Catholic and French-language teachers last year. They will include:
- Freezing wages for most teachers.
- A reduction in sick days.
- A limit on the amount of unclaimed sick days that teachers can cash out when they retire.
The imposed contracts will expire in August 2014.
Broten said the move to impose contracts was needed to avoid pay increases the province can’t afford as it struggles to pare back a $14-billion deficit.
The move comes after months of stalled negotiations and a series of rotating one-day walkouts by elementary teachers in the weeks leading up to the Christmas break.
Further strike action illegal
Broten also said Thursday the government will repeal Bill 115 once the contracts are in place, saying the bill has become a “lightning rod” in the dispute between the province and teachers.
She said the bill has served its purpose by leading to contracts with teachers, and described the move to repeal it by month’s end as an act of “good faith” by the province.
Teachers’ unions have warned that the Liberals would be asking for trouble if they force new agreements on their members, and have vowed to stage “days of protest” to fight it.
It’s not clear whether those protests will involve more walkouts, but Broten said Thursday any strike action by teachers is now illegal until the imposed contracts expire.
Some teachers have also stopped supervising extracurricular activities and coaching sports teams.
“I urge teachers not to move to illegal strikes,” said Broten.
NDP criticizes government move
NDP education critic Cheri DiNovo said the government’s move to use and then repeal Bill 115 is an example of “Liberal backroom cynical politics at its worst.”
“You don’t impose agreements; you come to agreements,” said DiNovo, who also pointed out that the legislation is the subject of a court challenge.
The fight with teachers will be key to the fortunes of Ontario’s minority Liberal government as the party prepares to select a new leader later this month.
The Liberals could also find themselves on the campaign trail early in 2013 if the new premier fails to get support from opposition members.