Members of two of Ontario's "big four" education unions will have some salary coming to them following a decision on Bill 124.
Late Friday afternoon, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) and the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) announced that an arbitrator awarded an additional 2.75 per cent salary to members for the 2021-2022 school year.
The total amount of salary now allowed for the 2019-2022 contract term is 7.25 per cent. Compounded, the increase is now 7.41 per cent when the one per cent increase allowed by Bill 124 is figured in.
The OSSTF and ETFO, which consist of two of Ontario's four major education unions, went before arbitrator William Kaplan last month to argue for remedies to Bill 124, in which the Ontario government limited public sector employees to one per cent raises per year.
Bill 124 was declared unconstitutional in the fall of 2022.
"This decision reinforces what we have known all along; our members have been underpaid and undervalued for years while the Progressive Conservatives underfunded public education and shortchanged Ontario’s students," said OSSTF President Karen Littlewood. "In fall 2023, OSSTF successfully negotiated a unique pathway that allowed us to secure an arbitrated remedy for members in advance of the final court decision on Bill 124. Now, our school board members will finally receive a remedy for wages that should never have been denied to them in the first place."
ETFO President Karen Brown hinted that the battle over remedies for Bill 124 may not be over.
"We welcome Arbitrator Kaplan’s decision, but recognize it does not replace the loss of our members’ bargaining rights," said Brown. "This arbitration award is a clear acknowledgment of the egregious, unlawful suppression of wages that deliberately undermined our members’ rights and livelihoods. The Ford government’s unconstitutional attack on public sector workers must never be repeated."
The Ontario government appealed the decision to strike down Bill 124. The Toronto Star reported on Thursday that the Court of Appeal of Ontario is expected to release its decision on Monday.