Tentative deal with Ontario elementary teachers sends issue of wages to arbitration

An agreement between Ontario public elementary teachers and the provincial government will see workers get a retroactive pay bump due to Bill 124 while the the issue of wages move to arbitration.

An agreement between Ontario public elementary teachers and the provincial government will see workers get a retroactive pay bump due to Bill 124 while the the issue of wages move to arbitration.

On Tuesday, Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced that a tentative agreement had been reached with the Elementary Teacher’s Federation of Ontario (ETFO,) who represents more than 80,000 teacher and occasional teachers across the province.

Few details about what is within the agreement have been released to the public, with Lecce saying only that some unresolved issues will be moving to binding arbitration.

A copy of the tentative agreement, obtained by CTV News Toronto, shows that the contentious issue of teacher salaries are among those disputes.

The new collective agreement, if ratified, would be in effect retroactive to Sept. 1, 2022. The new deal would expire on Aug. 31, 2026.

As part of the agreement, ETFO will refer the issue of compensation increases; including teacher salary grids and the daily occasional teacher rate, to a third party.

“The parties and the crown agree to refer the matter of compensation to binding interest arbitration for final determination,” a memorandum of settlement says.