Waterloo's public elementary teachers could be in an official strike position by the spring if their union and the local school board can't hammer out a contract deal soon.
Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario president David Clegg was in Kitchener this week to highlight the union's demand that school boards get their full proposals ready to meet a Feb. 13 deadline.
The union, which is fighting for the same level of per-student funding and resources as secondary school teachers, couldn't come to a provincial framework agreement with the Ontario Public School Boards' Association last December.
As a result, the Ontario Ministry of Education withdrew its offer to fund a three per cent pay hike each year for four years, now offering to only pay for a two per cent increase a year for two years.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, which entered into a collective framework agreement with the school board association, also reached a tentative contract agreement with the Waterloo Region District School Board this week. A union vote is set for Jan. 30. Contract details aren't yet being released.
But reaching a deal with the elementary teachers' union may be harder to do, according to John Bryant, the school board's superintendent of human resources. He said without a framework agreement, the provincial government won't provide the funding for the same pay hike deal as allotted to the secondary teachers. Only two per cent a year for years will be funded.
“That's the money we have to negotiate with,” he said.
Bryant said the board has set two dates, Feb. 13 and 18, to meet with the elementary teachers' union negotiators. While the board wants to work closely with the union and be accommodating, it has to remain fiscally responsible to all its stakeholders, he explained.
“We're trying to be fair to everyone.”
The elementary teachers' union aims to close the gap between what's funded to high schools and elementary schools in order to secure more resources for those educating children in the critical learning years.
