ETFO, 'We did everything in our power to achieve an agreement'

Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario
News Release

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TORONTO - With their adamant and stubborn refusal to commit to a constructive and progressive provincial framework agreement, the English school boards have consigned elementary public school students to a second class status, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario president David Clegg said today.

Clegg was expressing his frustration at the outcome of discussions between ETFO and the Ontario Public School Boards' Association (OPSBA) to secure a responsible agreement that would have provided a positive and workable framework for local collective bargaining.

"We did everything in our power to achieve an agreement that creates the positive environment needed to encourage productive collective bargaining with local school boards," Clegg said. "But at the end of the night, it was obvious that OPSBA representatives had absolutely no intention of doing what is best for student learning. In this toxic environment, it was impossible to achieve a deal.

"We feel that our proposal for peace and progress in collective bargaining provided viable and necessary solutions in these challenging times.

"If our proposal had been accepted, it would have created more than 1,000 high quality jobs in struggling communities - something the economy desperately needs, enhanced programming for students, and more specialist teachers to help students in need. We even offered to give up salary to ensure that these benefits could be realized," said Clegg, "but that too was rejected by OPSBA."

"We are very appreciative of Minister Wynne's efforts to bring the parties together and to seek creative solutions that would enhance learning for elementary students. Unfortunately, OPSBA chose to reject both our proposal and the Minister's efforts. As a result, the opportunity to invest in elementary education, social capital, human infrastructure, and the economic future of this province was lost," Clegg said.

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario represents 73,000 elementary public school teachers and education workers across the province and is the largest teacher federation in Canada.

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