Teachers Ratify Contract

Following a vote Tuesday by members of the Near North Occasional Teacher Local Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario an agreement has been reached.

Jan Heinonen, President of the Near North Occasional Teacher Local ETFO released the statement below.

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The Near North Occasional Teacher Local, Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario voted this evening to ratify a new 4-year collective agreement with the Near North District School Board.

The new collective agreement runs from Sept. 1/04 to Aug. 31/08.

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Near North District School Board released the following statement.

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The Near North District School Board and its elementary occasional teachers have ratified a four year contract. The contract covers the period September 1, 2004 through August 31, 2008. Occasional teachers work in the Board’s 36 elementary schools in both a long term and short term capacity.

The settlement meets key items for both parties. The Board is pleased that the agreement will help to manage costs over the four year period with the largest per diem increase for short term occasional teacher coming at the end of the contract. As well, the contract “language” provides a reasonable way to manage key issues such as teacher timetables and probationary periods.

The Board wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the Ministry of Education, the Minister’s Office and staff of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association in helping achieve this resolution.

The Near North District School Board welcomes our students back to school and is pleased to see the occasional teachers back in classrooms. The next few weeks will see a focus on student instruction along with the regular co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. There may be some re-scheduling of these activities. The Board is optimistic about the remaining month of school.

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