TORONTO — A union representing 55,000 Ontario education workers reached a tentative deal with the provincial government on Sunday, averting a strike that had been planned for the next day.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees said the deal was no different than what the government offered last week when the union issued a five-day strike notice. That walkout, which would have come two weeks after another one, was planned because the union said it was trying to secure staffing level guarantees from the province.
But there was ultimately no movement on that front during talks throughout the weekend, said Laura Walton, president of CUPE's Ontario School Board Council of Unions.
"What we have been told by this government is that they are not willing to budge any further," she said Sunday evening. "We are bringing it to our members to have the vote."
The 55,000 education workers such as early childhood educators, custodians and administrative staff are set to vote on ratification over several days starting Thursday.
The four-year deal comes with a $1-per-hour raise each year, or about 3.59 per cent annually.
Walton announced last week that the two sides had been able to agree on wages, but said CUPE was also looking for $100 million in guarantees of higher staffing levels for educational assistants, librarians, custodians and secretaries, as well as an early childhood educator in every kindergarten classroom rather than only those with more than 16 students.
Without those guarantees, the deal "falls short," she said Sunday.
"I think it's terrible that we live in a world that doesn't see the need to provide services to kids that they need," she said.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the biggest beneficiaries of the tentative deal are Ontario students, who will not have to miss class due to a strike.
"All parties...leave this tentative agreement with positive outcomes for what we were trying to advance," he said at a press conference. "I think all parties have been able to receive some incremental wins."
The looming strike would have come two weeks after CUPE's last walkout, which shut many schools across the province for two days.
The job action ended after the government promised to repeal a law that imposed contracts on CUPE members, banned them from striking, and used the notwithstanding clause to allow the override of certain charter rights.
CUPE had originally been seeking annual salary increases of 11.7 per cent as well as overtime at two times the regular pay rate, 30 minutes of paid prep time per day for educational assistants and ECEs, an increase in benefits and professional development for all workers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2022.
Allison Jones, The Canadian Press
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