Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Ontario’s education workers, represented by Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), have voted to ratify a contract with the government.
The deal ends 170 days of negotiations between the union and government that saw the union walk off the job on Nov. 4 for a one-day strike before returning to the bargaining table. A second day of job action was narrowly avoided on Nov. 20 when the two sides again agreed to return to the table, eventually working out a tentative deal. That deal was then brought to the members where a record 41,559 members voted on the deal, with 73 per cent (30,330 members) voting in favour to accept the contract. There are about 55,000 employees represented within the union.
Had a deal not been reached schools had indicated they would move to remote learning in the absence of education workers.
The deal brings with it a raise of about 3.59 per cent annually for the average union member.