Ontario's elementary and high school teachers have won their fight against the Ford government, which in 2021 passed a law to cap public sector wages, known as Bill- 124.

After years of negotiations and litigation, it took the intervention of a neutral arbitrator to allow members of the Ontario Secondary School Teacher Federation and Elementary Teacher Federation (OSSTF) to receive a retroactive raise for 2021-2022, in the amount of 2.75%.

The first two years of raise were paid while the law was in effect. In total, with the one percent that teachers have already received, that is 7.25% of the increase over three years.

“The decision reinforces what we have known for a long time,” said Karen Littlewood, president of the OSSTF. “The Progressive Conservative government has underpaid and undervalued our members for years, underfunding public education and capping students.” The extra payments came to light on the eve of the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision on whether Bill 124 was constitutional. In 2022, the province’s Superior Court ruled that the law violated unions’ collective bargaining rights. The government now has 60 days to provide school boards with funds to pay teachers within 120 days.

Mariana V.