The central bargaining committee for 55,000 frontline education workers who are members of CUPE’s Ontario School Boards Council of Unions (OSBCU) has reached a tentative agreement with the provincial government and the Council of Trustees’ Associations (CTA).
“The tentative agreement includes a flat-rate wage increase, instead of a percentage,” said CUPE-OSBCU president Laura Walton. “This tentative agreement is nowhere near everything education workers and kids deserve, however it’s all this government is willing to give.”
“The biggest gap at the end was no new funding to guarantee that services will be provided in schools for students,” noted Walton. “For that, to parents and families, all I can say is that I’m disappointed and so is the entire bargaining committee.”
Frontline education workers employed by 63 school boards and one school authority across the province will have the opportunity to review details of the tentative agreement and vote on whether or not to accept it. As required, the central bargaining committee will recommend members accept the tentative agreement during the ratification process that will take until next weekend.