Tentative contracts for thousands of education workers, including locally

Great news for local parents, the province has reached a tentative deal with 78,000 Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario members and 55,000 CUPE support staff, including custodians.

The deals were reached yesterday (Monday).  

After the deals were reached, Near North District School Board chair David Thompson tweeted the news, followed by “Back to the business of education!”

Tuesday morning, Thompson tweeted, “Great to see our schools getting back to normal! Thanks to our amazing CUPE staff for stepping up & bringing our schools back up to standard”  followed by a happy face emoticon.   

Contract details aren’t being released until ratification, but Education Minister Liz Sandals says the major terms for elementary teachers, such as salary, are similar to those for English Catholic and public school teachers, which included raises of 1.5 per cent, plus a one per cent bonus.

She also says the teachers will now be preparing full progress reports, including comments.

A deal has yet to be reached with OSSTF support staff like Early Childhood Educators.

(With files from The Canadian Press)