TORONTO — There's a tentative agreement on a new collective agreement between the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, the Ontario Public school Boards Association and the provincial government.
The elementary teachers union made the announcement on behalf of its 80,000 members Tuesday morning,
"After 14 months of central bargaining, we're pleased to be able to bring forward a tentative agreement to our teacher and occasional teacher members that protects their collective agreement entitlements and also addresses key bargaining goals," said union president Karen Brown.
Details of the deal will be shared with teachers at meetings on Thursday, after which a ratification vote will be scheduled.
But Brown said "We remained focused on getting government cuts off the table and on addressing members' working conditions, which are students' learning conditions."
The agreement was reached with the assistance of a conciliator appointed by the minister of labour.
Last month, ETFO members gave their bargaining team an overwhelming strike mandate.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the tentative deal "brings us one step closer to ensuring there will be no province-wide job actions or strikes in all English-language public schools for the next three years."
Bargaining continues between the government and the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, and with the union that represents teachers in the French-language public system.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation and the government are currently in binding arbitration.
