Talks between high school teachers’ union and government break off
Published March 4, 2020 at 1:17 pm
Education Minister Stephen Lecce says he’s disappointed after exploratory talks with the Ontario’s secondary school teachers broke down Tuesday night.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation says no future bargaining dates are scheduled.
The development comes after the Progressive Conservative government partially backed off on class size increases and new e-learning requirements.
They offered to increase average high school class sizes from 22 to 23 instead of their original target of 28, and allow an opt-out for e-learning courses they previously said would be mandatory.
The provincial government and OSSTF haven’t had a formal bargaining session since Dec. 16, and on Wednesday morning Lecce called on the union to return to the table.
Lecce has said the biggest issue in contract talks is compensation, while OSSTF has said class sizes, student support and e-learning requirements are their biggest hold-ups.
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