Elementary teachers’ union reject Wynne’s ‘cookie-cutter’ approach to deal

TORONTO — Ontario’s elementary teachers slammed the province’s approach to a labour deal as a “cookie-cutter” plan designed solely to bolster Liberal election hopes.

Talks between the province, school boards and the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario broke off again on Friday night.

Wynne said Monday the offer to the elementary teachers is essentially the same as that tentatively accepted by the unions representing Catholic and high school teachers.

READ MORE: Talks fail between elementary teachers’ union and school board association: ETFO

Those agreements, which have not been ratified, included raises of about 1.5 per cent plus a one per cent bonus.

Wynne said the government hopes ETFO leaders meeting today will agree to return to the bargaining table and work towards a negotiated deal.

ETFO president Sam Hammond expressed shock when the talks broke off, and said the parties were making progress in negotiations, albeit slowly.

READ MORE: Labour strife remains as Ontario students head back to school this week

Hammond said at a news conference Monday afternoon that the government and the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association need to return to the bargaining table with ETFO.

WATCH: ETFO President Sam Hammond answered questions from the media saying he won’t bargain in the press like Premier Kathleen Wynne has been doing. He also said Wynne isn’t doing any favours to help Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau in the federal election.

“Premier Wynne wants to impose another union’s deal on ETFO. She wants to impose a quick deal, not a reasonable deal for elementary teachers to help Mr. Trudeau’s chances in the federal election,” said Hammond.

“ETFO is not prepared to accept a flawed deal that does not address our members’ needs and the needs of public elementary students in the long term, just to increase the Liberal Party’s chances in October’s federal election.”

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Hammond said that the union is waiting for the government and OPSBA to pick up the phone and return to the table as soon as possible.

“A student who is six years old has different educational needs than a student who is sixteen. Anyone with children knows that’s true,” he said. “As a result, elementary teachers’ working needs will be different than secondary teachers, so the imposition of a cookie-cutter deal just won’t work.”

WATCH: ETFO President Sam Hammond said during a press conference on Monday the elementary teachers’ union rejected the government’s deal and are prepared to escalate strike action if necessary.

Hammond also stressed that salaries are not the sticking point for teachers, but rather working conditions and student learning environment.

“We are prepared to escalate our strike action if there is no change on the part of the government and OPSBA,” he said.

READ MORE: Elementary teachers’ union announces phase 2 of work-to-rule campaign

Members have been very public in their support for the action in their schools and social media, which is a clear demonstration of their resolve to achieve an agreement that meets their needs and the needs of their students.”

ETFO represents 78,000 elementary public school teachers, occasional teachers and education professionals across the province.

With files from The Canadian Press