Negotiations begin between the province and education union
Posted Jul 24, 2022 11:00:00 AM.
Bargaining between the Ontario government and an Ontario teachers union began on July 20, and improving working conditions and wages for educators is high on the list.
The existing agreement expires on Aug. 31, and Karen Littlewood, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF), told The Sam Laprade Show on July 19 that the last few years have seen a shortage of qualified teachers in the province.
“We need to be addressing that,” Littlewood said. “We need to be reassuring parents that education workers and teachers in the province are going to continue to be there to serve the needs of the students.”
Littlewood said the last round of bargaining was challenging and introduced Bill 124, which capped wage increases to one per cent for three years.
This time around, Littlewood hopes the government respects the role of education workers during the upcoming negotiations.
“What we're looking for is a government who will view education as an investment, who will come to the table with ideas that will be able to fund education, and to be able to meet the needs of all students in the province so that they have equitable access to public education,” she said.
Listen to the full interview with Karen Littlewood below:
