• Ontario High School Teachers’ Raise Financed By Diverting Fund For Students Struggling to Graduate
• Government Agreed to Pay $1 Million for Teachers’ Union Negotiating Costs

TORONTO, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is calling on the Ontario government to halt the unprecedented $1 million payment being made to cover the contract negotiation costs of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), and to halt the teachers wage increases being made on the backs of funding for vulnerable students.

Reports reveal that in order to settle the acrimonious labour negations with OSSTF, the province made the unusual step of agreeing to pay for the union’s own negotiation costs.

“OSSTF requires its 60,000 teachers to pay union dues, which are supposed to pay for things like contract negotiations. Taxpayers should not be responsible for paying for both sides of this negotiation,” said CTF Ontario Director Christine Van Geyn. “By agreeing to pay for the union’s negotiation costs, the union no longer bears any of the financial risk of throwing up road blocks in the process.”

Significantly, the province is still negotiating with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), which is currently on work-to-rule labour action. The government has said it wants ETFO to accept the same deal as OSSTF, but ETFO has ceased negotiations.

“If ETFO is expecting the province to pay the union’s negotiation costs like it did for OSSTF, it should be no surprise that the union is holding out on reaching a deal and drawing out its work-to-rule campaign at the expense of students and parents,” continued Van Geyn. “If ETFO bears no financial cost for digging in their heels, they have every reason to hold out until the province caves in to their demands.”

The same report also uncovered that some of the money for the so-called “net zero” pay raises for teachers came from diverting funding for students struggling to graduate. The OSSTF three year contract included pay hikes totalling 2.5 per cent over the next years, and the province has been secretive about where this money came from.

“Wynne and Sandals have raided a fund for vulnerable students in order to give pay hikes to teachers, who in Ontario are the second highest paid provincial teachers, second only to Alberta,” said Van Geyn. “Minister Sandals has tried to mislead the public about how she is paying for these pay hikes, and we are now learning that the money has come at the expense of students. The province should be ashamed.”