Agreement includes salary freezes through 2014
Ontario and the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO) have signed a memorandum of understanding for a two-year agreement.
Earlier this summer, Ontario signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA). The province and AEFO used this memorandum as a roadmap to reach a similar agreement.
According to the province, the agreement includes:
•zero per cent salary increases in 2012-13 and 2013-14
•all teachers will take a 1.5 per cent pay cut in the form of three unpaid professional development days in the second year of the agreement, so younger teachers will continue to move through the grid for their experience and additional qualifications
•agreement to restructure the grid with a view to long-term, sustainable savings
•elimination of the current retirement gratuity for payment of unused sick days that was responsible for a $1.7 billion liability for school boards
•a restructured short-term sick leave plan that would include up to 10 sick days
•the sick leave plan would benefit younger teachers by providing income protection for serious illness
•agreement on a non-monetary change to better align the French system with the rest of the education system.
Province urges other boards to reach agreements
The Ontario government is also urging all school boards to reach agreements with local teacher and support staff before Sept. 1 that comply with the province's fiscal plan, as reflected in the deals with OECTA, Association of Professional Student Services Personnel and AEFO.
If school board trustees are unwilling or unable to negotiate and sign local agreements that comply with the province's fiscal parameters, the government is prepared to introduce legislation, it said.
The province has asked doctors, broader public sector workers and teachers to hit the pause button on salary increases for two years.
