Education unions have accused the Ontario Government of bargaining in bad faith

BY PAUL JUNOR

As Ontario schools get ready to open in less than five weeks, the announcement that the Ontario government has settled with the two Ontario teachers’ unions with respect to an unfair labour practice that they filed is good news.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) have accused the Ontario government of bargaining in bad faith by adding a new requirement to their negotiation issues. It was in early June 2023 that Education Minister Lecce made the announcement that elementary teachers would have to utilize an early reading screening tool starting in senior kindergarten, grade one and grade two.

On Wednesday, August 23^rd, a joint statement was released by ETFO and OECTA, which revealed that the two education unions had reached a settlement in their unfair labour practice complaints against the Ford government. The statement reads, “Two weeks ago, ETFO and OECTA filed unfair labour practice complaints with the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB), asserting that the Ford government violated its legal obligation to bargain in good faith by implementing Program/Policy Memorandum (PPM) 168: Reading Instruction and Early Reading Screening as this issue has been a topic at the bargaining table.”

The joint statement indicates that before the OLRB hearing occurred, the Crown in a surprise move decided to settle the complaint. The two unions believed that this is a belated, but welcome recognition by the government that the unilateral implementation of PPM 168 contravened collective agreements, violated the statutory freeze period during bargaining and circumvented the bargaining process. In light of this, the unions firmly believe that every child has the right to learn to read, to literacy and recognize that the acquisition of literacy skills disproportionately lags behind for students from equity-seeking communities.

The unions ensured that language that respects the integrity of the bargaining process is maintained. They observed, “PPM 168 contravened those collective agreements because it required teachers to use a mandatory Early Reading Screener Tool in Year 2 of kindergarten, grade one, and grade two.”

In addition, the two unions are concerned about the changes that the Ministry of Education has implemented in the elementary English Language curriculum. There are no additional investments made to ensure that one of the key recommendations from

The Ontario Human Rights Commission’s “Right to Read” report will be possible. Also, the unions reiterated that the statutory freeze on collective language is still in effect as long as the bargaining process for new agreements persists. To put it simply, “This means that the terms and conditions of ETFO and OECTA expired collective agreements remain in force and must be respected by the involved parties until a new collective agreement is reached.” Furthermore, the press release notes, “When the Ministry of Education released PPM 168 during central bargaining, it violated the good faith duties imposed on all parties under the law.”

The unions are optimistic that the settlements reached on Tuesday, August 22^nd, 2023, are a positive sign that the government will respect the collective bargaining process. There are two positive developments that are good: the government also commits to returning to the bargaining table to resolve the issue in good faith. The government will be issuing a memorandum to school boards of the change in direction.

The statement concludes, “We call on the Ford government to learn from this error in judgment and bargain in good faith. Our message to the government is clear; keep bargaining issues at the bargaining table, or we will continue to take swift action to protect our members’ bargaining rights and public education.”