KAWARTHA LAKES-Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education says a tentative central agreement has been reached with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) Education Workers.
“From day one, my focus has been keeping kids in class. We are taking an important step towards delivering on this priority by announcing another tentative central agreement with the ETFO Education Workers, helping to bring stability to families and elementary students in Ontario.
A news release from the union says that this agreement only covers ETFO’s education workers, including early childhood educators and education support personnel which is approximately 3,500 people.
“After a prolonged and difficult bargaining process, we are pleased to be able to bring forward a tentative central agreement to our education worker members that addresses their key bargaining goals,” ETFO President Karen Brown stated.
An agreement hasn’t yet been reached for the union’s 80,000 teachers and occasional teachers.
The government is urging all remaining teacher unions to come to the table and sign a deal that “ensures children benefit from uninterrupted learning for the next three years, with an enhanced focus on strengthening reading, writing, and math skills”.
Ontario previously reached central agreements with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) education workers, and with the Ontario Council of Educational Workers (OCEW).
Last month, Ontario announced a tentative agreement on a process with both the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) teachers and OSSTF Education Workers that would keep their students in class.
