Education Minister Laurel Broten will impose contracts on public school teachers under the minority Liberal government’s controversial Bill 115 before classes resume Monday, the Star has learned.The details — to be announced at a news conference Thursday — mirror the two-year deals reached last summer with Catholic and French-language teachers, freezing pay for most, reducing sick days and limiting how much unclaimed sick time can be cashed out at retirement.
“We have to do it or else it’ll be the world’s biggest flip-flop,” a senior government source said Wednesday.
However, it’s unlikely Broten’s measures will restore peace in public schools.
Many teachers are expected to continue boycotting extracurricular activities such as coaching sports teams and helping with student clubs.
And a one-day, province-wide political protest has been threatened by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation — although it’s not clear if this means an illegal strike or something on a PD day or weekend.
The two powerful unions contend Bill 115, passed with support from the Progressive Conservatives, unconstitutionally curbs their collective bargaining rights and are challenging it in court.
Premier Dalton McGuinty strongly hinted at the government’s action in a three-page letter to teachers Wednesday after weeks of one-day rotating strikes by public elementary teachers and extracurricular bans.
“Ontarians expect, rightly, that uncertainty in education will not continue indefinitely,” McGuinty said.
“Our preference is and has always been negotiated settlements. But after 10 months, the bargaining deadline (Jan. 1) has passed.”
While there had been pressure from union leaders like president Sam Hammond of the elementary teachers union and some Liberal leadership candidates to delay imposing the terms of Bill 115 as a way to quell labour unrest, that option was rejected.
“I don’t know anyone but Sam Hammond, Gerard Kennedy and Eric Hoskins who thinks postponing it will reduce the uncertainty,” the senior government source added.
A top Liberal strategist said Broten has no choice but to use the powers under Bill 115.
“She is going to bring down the hammer. You’ve got a whole bunch of staffers and teachers in other parts of the (education) system who have agreed to the terms … you have to bring everyone into the same deal,” said the veteran, who added Bill 115 could be repealed before the next election.
Last weekend, Broten announced the Canadian Union of Public Employees, representing education support workers, reached a tentative deal with the government after 30 hours of negotiations over the Christmas holidays.
The other deals were reached with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association and a smaller union representing French-language teachers.
Broten will impose virtually the same contract with no overall wage hike for two years — although it lets the newest 40 per cent of teachers move up their salary grid starting in February.
The new contract also cuts the number of annual sick days from 20 to 10 and scraps the ability to cash them in upon retirement — changes that took effect in September when the government passed Bill 115.
“Those compromises will now serve as the terms for contracts moving forward,” McGuinty wrote in his letter.
The public teachers “have a lot of difficult decisions they are going to have to work their way through in the next while,” said New Democrat MPP Peter Tabuns (Toronto-Danforth).
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, who has called for across-the-board pay freezes, agreed Wednesday that the solution is to impose contracts immediately under Bill 115.
“Why else would you pass a bill if you are not going to use it?”
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario declined to comment while Ken Coran of the OSSTF said “the best way to keep labour peace in the province is to resolve things at the negotiating table.”
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Rob Ferguson and Richard J. Brennan, Louise Brown
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