The proposal, tabled Monday in negotiations with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, marks the first indication of what the Progressive Conservative government is seeking in deals also being negotiated with the four major teachers unions. Previous contracts were subject to legislation known as Bill 124, introduced by the government in 2019, which caps wage increases at one per cent a year for three years for public sector workers. Premier Doug Ford recently said the government would deliver more than one per cent this time, and CUPE’s Laura Walton said she and her colleagues had a joke that would mean 1.25 per cent. “With inflation the way it is, this is actually a pay cut to these education workers,” said Walton, the president of CUPE’s Council of School Board Unions. He said that amounts to an extra $800 a year for the average worker making $39,000. CUPE and other unions said they were pushing for increases both to offset wage restraint and to deal with the rising cost of living. Statistics Canada reported that the annual inflation rate in June was 8.1 per cent. CUPE represents 55,000 workers, including kindergarten teachers, school administrators, bus drivers and custodians. Agreements for the five major education unions expire on August 31, and the terms of the first agreement reached in a round of negotiations often set the standard for the rest. CUPE has asked the province for annual wage increases of 11.7 per cent — or $3.25 an hour — arguing that workers’ wages have been constrained over the past decade and inflation is expected to rise further.
Province committed to ‘fair deal’, minister says
Education Minister Steven Lecce said in a statement that the government’s proposal is reasonable, fair and provides stability. “As students return to regular classrooms this September for the full school experience, including athletics and extracurriculars, we are committed to achieving a fair deal with all education unions and a good deal for Ontario students and their families,” he wrote . A four-year deal, as proposed, instead of three, would ensure that the issue of education negotiation does not come up again before the next scheduled election in 2026. A Lecce spokeswoman noted that CUPE is also asking for five extra paid days before the start of the school year, 30 minutes of paid preparation time each day and an increase in overtime pay from a multiplier of 1.5 to 2. If the terms of the CUPE proposal were applied to all education contracts, it would cost taxpayers $21.8 billion over the proposed three years, Caitlin Clark said in a statement. Walton said the additional preparation time before the school year will give staff time to review protocol and train to be ready to go on day one. In early childhood teacher-educator teaching teams, for example, Walton said teachers have time to prepare, but ECEs don’t. CUPE plans to discuss the strike votes at a meeting next week, which Lecce described as an “unnecessary escalation” as the agenda was set before the government even tabled its first offer.
