Elementary teachers ratify deal to let arbitrator decide compensation

TORONTO — Ontario's public elementary teachers have ratified a contract with the provincial government.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario says its members voted 90 per cent in favour of the deal, which covers four years from Sept. 1, 2022 to Aug. 31, 2026.

The agreement must also be ratified by the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association in order to take effect. A vote is scheduled for next week.

Under the deal, compensation for the union's 80,000 teachers and occasional teachers will be referred to arbitration, as will the issue of retroactive salary increases.

ETFO says the agreement includes a remedy for two of the three years of constrained wages under a law known as Bill 124, with the resolution for the third to be decided at arbitration.

ETFO president Karen Brown said that while bargaining was "exceptionally lengthy and difficult," the agreement is proof that the process works when it's allowed to unfold.

Ontario's education minister, Stephen Lecce, said in a statement he's pleased the deal has been ratified, "ensuring that 950,000 children benefit from three stable school years." 

The deal came after more than a year of bargaining.

The Canadian Press