Ontario teachers head back to class without a new contract as bargaining stalls

Ontario teachers will head back to the classroom next month without a new contract, after bargaining between the province and several major education unions stalled over a procedural dispute.

Current agreements are set to expire Aug. 31, and with students returning to school in just a few weeks, no new deal is in place, according to CHCH News.

The sticking point is not wages or working conditions but rather a fight over process: which issues should be negotiated at the provincial central table, and which should be left to individual school boards to settle locally.

A dispute over where decisions are made

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario argues that matters such as staff transfers and surplus staffing are shaped by the needs of individual school boards and should not be centralized at Queen's Park.

There are democratic structures that exist at the federal, at the provincial and at the local level that understand that you can't just make decisions in Ottawa for all of Canada. You can't just make decisions in Queen's Park for all of Ontario,

David Mastin, president of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, told CHCH News. He said schools and students are already under strain as the dispute drags on.

We're not sure as to why they're so desperate and intent on delaying this process. But our schools are hurting right now, our kids are struggling, educators are struggling as well.

Unions say they are ready to bargain

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation says it has been prepared to negotiate for months and is placing the delay at the feet of the education minister.

We put a call to the government to start bargaining March 2. The minister denied that request. We have made ourselves available every single day; prepared, ready to discuss the substantive issues that are in front of us.

Martha Hradowy, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, told CHCH News. She said the government is trying to pull items that have been handled locally since 2014 into the minister's office, calling it a concerning pattern.

The unions that spoke with CHCH News said they are trying to avoid any disruption for students, and both major teachers' organizations say they remain ready to return to the table.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board is now involved in the dispute.

Not every union is at an impasse. The Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association is the only major education union still actively engaged in bargaining with the province, CHCH News reported.

Ontario's major education unions entered this round of talks hoping to avoid a repeat of past labour disruptions in the sector, which have previously brought job action and school closures across the Greater Toronto Area and beyond.

For now, teachers across Ontario — including those in the GTA's public and Catholic boards — will start the school year working under expired agreements, with no clear timeline for when central bargaining might resume.