Education Minister Laurel Broten
JOHN ROBBINS/Bullet News
NIAGARA – Ontario Education Minister Laurel Broten has given the thumbs up to a negotiated contract deal between the union representing Niagara’s public high school teachers and the District School Board of Niagara.
The tentative agreement was announced earlier this week and had been submitted to the Ministry of Education for review.
In a statement issued Thursday evening, Broten said the agreement is compatible with the provisions of the Putting Students First Act, the controversial legislation the government enacted earlier this year as part of its deficit-busting efforts.
Broten also gave her blessing to agreements reached between the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation and three other school boards – Hamilton-Wentworth District, Thames Valley and Avon Maitland.
The tentative agreements cannot be officially approved by the government until they are ratified by union members in each of the boards.
“Congratulations to the leadership at these school boards and OSSTF teacher locals for their focus on finding a pathway forward that meets our fiscal parameters while protecting full-day kindergarten, small class sizes, and teaching jobs,” said Broten.
“These tentative agreements show what’s possible when we continue to work with our partners to find solutions that put students first and follow two additional agreements that were deemed workable earlier this week.”
In advance of any ratification votes, said Broten, the ministry is seeking “points of clarification to further understand the agreements.”
The Putting Students First Act gives time for local bargaining to continue until Dec. 31, 2012 to allow school boards and local unions to conclude local collective agreements.
“I am very pleased to see tentative agreements being reached, ending strike action in those boards,” Broten said.
“Reaching negotiated agreements that meet our shared fiscal challenges while protecting small class sizes, full-day kindergarten and teacher jobs has always been our preference.
“We know that our education system is strongest when we all work together to find solutions. In reaching tentative agreements, OSSTF and local unions found a pathway forward that prioritizes full-day kindergarten, small class sizes, and teaching jobs.
“These tentative agreements show what’s possible when we continue to work with our partners to find solutions that put students first,” Broten concluded.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty recalled the Legislature two weeks early to bring in the ant-strike, wage-freeze legislation that rankled unions and led to some teachers withdrawing from extracurricular activities and participating in other work-to-rule measures.
Bill 115 was passed with the help of opposition leader Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives, who stood with the government members despite decrying the legislation as not going far enough.
The legislation has caused a serious rift inside the Liberal party, which seems to be growing now that there’s a seven-way race to replace McGuinty as Liberal leader and premier.
Some Liberals have openly voiced their objections to aspects of the legislation from the beginning.
Liberal leadership hopeful and former Ontario education minister Gerard Kennedy and Niagara Falls Liberal MPP Kim Craitor speak with reporters in Niagara Falls, Thursday evening. Bullet News photo by John Robbins.
Niagara Falls MPP Liberal MPP Kim Craitor, a former district labour council president, drew flak from the Tories when he skipped the final vote on Bill 115.
In an interview with Bullet News earlier this year, the independent-minded Craitor acknowledged he skipped the vote because he has concerns about overriding the collective bargaining process and about the impact the freeze could have on lower paid school board employees.
“It’s a challenge for me,” said Craitor. “This idea of imposing (a settlement) does go against what I believe in.”
Former Liberal education minister Gerard Kennedy, who is one of the seven candidates running for the leadership, chatted with local Liberals during a stop in Niagara Falls on Wednesday.
Craitor has publicly endorsed Kennedy for leader.
Among the crowd at the event were a number of teachers, who had the opportunity to question Kennedy about his stance on Bill 115.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Kennedy said he wins the leadership contest and becomes the next premier he won’t use the provisions of Bill 115 to force settlements.
“And I would restore collective bargaining rights,” said Kennedy. “Because I believe the best outcome is one that is negotiated.”
Still, said Kennedy, no other party can match the Liberal government’s track record on education during the past nine years.
“No party can match the amount of success the Liberal party has had in delivering for students through good relationships with teachers, through innovative programs, through commitment to funding, sometimes at times of great difficulty,” said Kennedy.
