📖 Narrative

"A memo sent to members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation on Friday, obtained by the Star, said “both the government and provincial employer organizations (the Council of Directors of Education) have demanded that a number of items historically bargained locally since 2014 be moved to the central table,” and that “other education unions have also filed with the labour board, and there is considerable overlap in the issues the government is trying to force to the central table.” The issues include “criteria for eligibility for short-term paid leaves,” unpaid leaves, union leave (and reimbursement for it), administering medication to students, transfer/surplus (layoff) timelines, funding for local professional development, class sizes for new courses, supply teacher workload and number of professional activity days. The memo notes that the “School Board Collective Bargaining Act requires that there be an established list of items to be bargained centrally before actual bargaining can begin,” but unions have urged the government to hold discussions on issues they do agree on in the meantime. Education Minister Paul Calandra, however, has said no because the province needs a full picture in order to have meaningful talks."

Framing: assertive · First seen: 2026-09-14 · Last seen: 2026-09-14 · Spread: 1 articles