A push by the Ford government to avert potential teacher strikes and keep kids in classrooms this fall is facing a new hurdle.
By Rob Ferguson Queen's Park Bureau
Friday, September 8, 2023
Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation president Karen Littlewood speaks to her union’s members at their annual general meeting in Toronto on Aug. 18, 2022.
Richard Lautens / Toronto Star file photo The Star
The large and influential Toronto unit of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) is speaking out against a tentative agreement the union reached with Education Minister Stephen Lecce to continue contract talks until Oct. 27 and send any remaining issues to binding arbitration.
That controversial plan — flatly rejected last month by other teachers’ unions that are frustrated with the slow pace of negotiations — “has the potential to set a dangerous precedent for education workers and the entire labour movement,” the Toronto unit executive warned in a memo to its members.
“We have concerns about voluntarily entering into a binding arbitration process that eliminates our right to strike or take other job actions such as selective withdrawal of services.”
OSSTF president Karen Littlewood downplayed the opposition to the deal Friday as the union’s 60,000 members began online voting on the pact, a process that will continue until Sept. 27.
“We knew that there would be people who would come out and say they’re not in favour. That happens every time we bring something forward,” she told the Star, calling an arbitrator’s decision “the right way forward” at this time.
“We have to do something because 14 months at the bargaining table with nothing happening is not OK.”
Teachers’ contracts expired in August of last year.
The timing of the OSSTF Toronto unit’s objections, as voting began and just in time for a Thursday evening town hall meeting of the union, is significant and shows “there are clearly divisions inside the union,” said Larry Savage, chair of the department of labour studies at Brock University in St. Catharines.
“The deal with Lecce undermines the bargaining position of all the other unions in the sector and helps fuel the provincial government’s tried and true divide-and-conquer labour relations strategy,” he added.
Should the deal pass, Lecce could use it as a “cudgel” against other unions for public elementary, Catholic and French-language teachers to get them to agree to the same terms, Savage said. If it fails, the OSSTF can rejoin with the other unions in a “common front that will bolster their collective bargaining power in pursuit of a negotiated settlement that everyone can live with.”
The large and influential Toronto unit of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) is speaking out against a tentative agreement the union reached with Education Minister Stephen Lecce to continue contract talks until Oct. 27 and send any remaining issues to binding arbitration.
That controversial plan — flatly rejected last month by other teachers’ unions that are frustrated with the slow pace of negotiations — “has the potential to set a dangerous precedent for education workers and the entire labour movement,” the Toronto unit executive warned in a memo to its members.
“We have concerns about voluntarily entering into a binding arbitration process that eliminates our right to strike or take other job actions such as selective withdrawal of services.”
OSSTF president Karen Littlewood downplayed the opposition to the deal Friday as the union’s 60,000 members began online voting on the pact, a process that will continue until Sept. 27.
“We knew that there would be people who would come out and say they’re not in favour. That happens every time we bring something forward,” she told the Star, calling an arbitrator’s decision “the right way forward” at this time.
“We have to do something because 14 months at the bargaining table with nothing happening is not OK.”
Teachers’ contracts expired in August of last year.
The timing of the OSSTF Toronto unit’s objections, as voting began and just in time for a Thursday evening town hall meeting of the union, is significant and shows “there are clearly divisions inside the union,” said Larry Savage, chair of the department of labour studies at Brock University in St. Catharines.
“The deal with Lecce undermines the bargaining position of all the other unions in the sector and helps fuel the provincial government’s tried and true divide-and-conquer labour relations strategy,” he added.
Should the deal pass, Lecce could use it as a “cudgel” against other unions for public elementary, Catholic and French-language teachers to get them to agree to the same terms, Savage said. If it fails, the OSSTF can rejoin with the other unions in a “common front that will bolster their collective bargaining power in pursuit of a negotiated settlement that everyone can live with.”
The wary Toronto unit said the arbitration pact is “the most significant departure” ever from the union’s collective bargaining strategy and cautioned gains are not guaranteed.
Savage said arbitration is “seductive” because it avoids risks but caters mainly to “conservative elements” in the union.
“Disputes in the public sector often come down to disagreements over the quality of public services, but arbitrators are loathe to weigh in on such debates. As the other education unions have alluded to, an arbitrator is unlikely to agree to any union demands framed around supports for students, class sizes, violence in schools, or the need for better ventilation, including air conditioning in schools.”
Littlewood got support for the arbitration plan Friday from the president of a smaller Toronto-area OSSTF unit representing school psychologists, social workers, counsellors and graduation coaches.
“I do not believe this proposal will potentially set a dangerous precedent for education workers and the entire labour movement,” said Solange Scott.
As the debate continues, Canadian Labour Congress president Bea Bruske took to social media with words of caution for public high school teachers.
“The right to strike is a cornerstone of work power, and for good reason,” she wrote. “When all else fails, being able to withhold your labour is the only thing workers can do to get what they deserve. It should never be given away lightly.”
Rob Ferguson has been a reporter covering provincial politics in the Queen's Park Bureau of the Toronto Star since 2004 and is in his third term as president of the Ontario Legislative Press Gallery.
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