Catholic school board negotiations have concluded

News Release

Negotiations for new collective agreements covering elementary, secondary and occasional teachers employed by Ontario’s publicly-funded Catholic school boards have concluded, delivering 78 four-year local agreements for approximately 40,000 teachers.
“These settlements ensure that there will be a four-year period of cooperation, free of labour disruption. Students will receive more individual time and attention from teachers, thanks to smaller classes, reduced supervision time and the addition of specialist teachers,” says Elaine Mac Neil, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA).
Discussions initiated last spring by the Ontario government, brought together government, OECTA and the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association (OCSTA) to establish a framework for key monetary items as well as new local committees that will oversee staffing, workload and professional activities. By May 1, the parties had addressed preparation time, reduced class size for Grades 4 to 8, provided for more specialist teachers and for a salary increase of 12 per cent over four years.
“By settling issues that are driven by government funding at the beginning, the framework process promoted cooperation and allowed local negotiators to focus on the needs of students and communities,” Mac Neil says.
“OECTA is very committed to the principle of local bargaining whereby teachers and trustees work together to meet needs in their own communities.”
Mac Neil describes the provincial Tripartite Teacher Advisory Committee as, “a constructive means to facilitate ongoing dialogue on professional issues between teachers, boards and government. This has the potential for the partners in the system to continue improving learning and working conditions throughout the term of the contracts.”
As of November 27, the seven OECTA members in Moosonee had not ratified an agreement for their unique circumstances.