TORONTO — Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, issued the following statement regarding a tentative central agreement 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.
This is the latest in a series of significant agreements that help ensure kids stay in class, learning with their friends and educators, and benefiting from our back to basics focus. While we are making progress, we are again 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.”
BACKGROUND
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 where they belong. These actions would cover almost 29,000 English Public teachers and almost 95% of education workers in Ontario.