THUNDER BAY – The local president of public high school teachers says the introduction of back-to-work legislation shows the province’s negotiation framework is failing.
That was the reaction from Paul Caccamo to the announcement by Ontario Education Minister Liz Sandals that the Liberal government would force striking high school teachers at three school boards to return to the classroom.
This comes as the latest development in a tense, sometimes hostile, round of negotiations that came after Premier Kathleen Wynne introduced a two-tiered bargaining act that separated issues into local and central tables in hopes of creating a smoother process than last time.
“If it was designed to address it after six or seven months, tremendous expense and countless provincial days there’s and there’s still no agreement, so why the Premier isn’t prepared to acknowledge or facilitate a discussion on why these talks aren’t working is beyond me,” Caccamo said.
“Forcing the end of strikes certainly isn’t moving towards resolution. It’s creating animosity, frustration and angst. Where it goes from here is certainly going to be anybody’s guess.”
More than 70,000 students at the Durham, Peel and Sudbury-area Rainbow school boards have been out of the classroom after teachers took to the picket lines. Durham teachers have been on strike the longest at 25 days.
The union previously filed notice for conciliation at those three boards, along with four others including Thunder Bay’s Lakehead District School Board, which puts those teachers in a legal strike position.
Local talks in Thunder Bay have remained ongoing, with the two sides meeting Monday and having future talks scheduled later this week and into next week.
“At the (local) table there’s a mixture of give, there’s a mixture of take but the dialogue is meaningful and focused on resolution,” Caccamo said.
“At the provincial level it’s a completely different story. There’s mounting frustration. The solution to this is not back-to-work legislation. It’s getting back to the table and having a meaningful dialogue. They seem committed to not having that.”
He expressed disappointment over the intent to hinder the teachers’ ability to strike at those three boards but said his real concern is what it means going forward for the rest of the process.
“The underlying problem, as I see it, is that it gives the government an escape from ever playing a role in making sure there’s meaningful dialogue at the local or provincial tables,” he said. “This is an out for them and the pressure on them to engage and negotiate an agreement seems lifted now.”
