The union representing some 55,000 education workers in Ontario says it will hold a ratification vote on a tentative deal reached with the provincial government beginning Thursday.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said the presidents of all 67 locals whose members are Ontario’s frontline education workers met and “adopted a resolution that confirmed plans for conducting the ratification vote.”
According to CUPE, the education workers will vote online from Thursday until Dec. 5 to “decide whether or not to ratify the tentative agreement that their central bargaining committee reached with the Council of Trustees’ Associations (CTA) and the Ford government on November 20.”
The union had given a five-day strike notice on Nov. 16. Workers were preparing to withdraw their services on Monday.
However, an agreement was reached and announced at the 5 p.m. deadline set on Sunday.
According to the union, the results are expected to be released on Dec. 6.
“To allow members time to review and process the details of this tentative agreement, we will not be commenting further until the ratification vote results are released,” the union said.
If the workers reject the deal, the union and the province could go back to the bargaining table.
– with a file from The Canadian Press