TORONTO – Ontario’s secondary school teachers are set to receive a raise and there will be no increases to class size limits.
The details of a tentative contract agreement are outlined in a briefing that was given to local union leaders on Friday and obtained by The Canadian Press.
READ MORE: OSSTF reaches tentative agreement with province
The agreement between the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, the Public School Boards’ Association and the province was reached on Thursday.
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The briefing says the teachers will get a one-per-cent lump sum payment for the upcoming school year and a one-per-cent raise as of Sept. 1, 2016, with another half-per-cent later on.
It also says they will get improved sick leave and benefits, and an additional professional activity day within the current school year.
No one from Ontario’s Ministry of Education was immediately available for comment, but the teachers’ union says all raises will be paid for through savings found elsewhere in the agreement.
The government has insisted it would not fund any salary increases until it eliminates an $11.9-billion deficit, which is scheduled to happened by 2017-18.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association resumed contract talks this week after a three-month break, while the Elementary Teachers’ Federation is expected to resume negotiations on Sept. 1.
Ontario’s 130,000 teachers have been without contracts for a full year.
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