The largest local bargaining unit of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation has told members it opposes a tentative agreement between the provincial union and the government that would avoid the possibility of strikes.
The federation reached a deal last month with the province that would see the parties keep bargaining for a new contract until October 27th and then send any remaining issues to be settled by arbitration — which would eliminate the chance of a strike by high school teachers.
But the proposal must first be ratified by members, and there were signs of potential trouble as voting on the deal began Friday.
The OSSTF Toronto teachers’ bargaining unit executive sent its members a memo saying they were not directing teachers on how to vote, but were expressing their concerns about entering into binding arbitration and removing the right to strike.
