contract

Ontario’s major education unions would like contract talks toward new agreements to start as soon as possible.

L’Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO), Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), Ontario School Board Council of Unions (CUPE-OSBCU), and Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) have asked Education Minister Paul Calandra give approval.

They say Calandra has the authority to issue a regulation, allowing bargaining to begin up to 180 days before the current agreements expire on August 31.

In doing so, talks could begin as early as this month.

“Ontario’s teachers and education workers are ready to go. We are united. And we are committed to championing the voices of parents, students, teachers, and education workers at the bargaining table,” read a statement from the five education unions.

The unions cite a number of pressing issues impacting education.

They point to chronic underfunding and understaffing as having an impact on students.

“We see this reality every day in our schools, through overcrowded classrooms, a growing shortage of qualified and certified teachers and education workers, inadequate supports for students with Special Education needs, rising incidents of violence, and a lack of basic school supplies, like paper, pencils, and textbooks,” the statement reads.