The local president of the Greater Essex Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario is looking forward to seeing the details of a tentative deal reached between the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario and the provincial government.
Mario Spagnuolo says it's good news because it provides some stability and calms any anxieties that were out there from teachers, occasional teachers, parents, students and anyone else in the system.
"I know that a lot of people wanted to get to this place where there was a tentative agreement because the unrest and the not knowing was making people nervous, so that is a positive news story. I've already heard from members who are looking forward to getting the details so they can make decision for themselves in terms of endorsing this agreement," he says.
A tentative central agreement was announced Tuesday by both sides following 14 months of bargaining.
Details of the agreement will be shared with ETFO teacher and occasional teacher members on Thursday, Nov. 23, after a meeting with their local presidents and chief negotiators.
A ratification vote is being scheduled; details of the vote will be shared with members once they are confirmed.
Once the deal is ratified, local associations will then begin contract talks with their local school boards.
Spagnuolo says they have a meeting set up in early December.
"We will meet with bargaining team with the school board and our bargaining team," he says. "We'll look at some other details that are not big ticket items necessarily like class size, compensation, benefits, but it's the day-to-day issues we'd like to address."
The day-to-day issues include staffing, leaves of absences and violence in the workplace.
"Still critical issues but not to the degree where you need a lot of money to address them. A lot of the local language is non-cost items," says Spagnuolo.
Members of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario had previously voted 95 per cent in favour of a strike, with union leadership saying it would help to put pressure on the government to reach a deal at the bargaining table.
The government is still in bargaining with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association, whose members also voted in favour of a strike, and with the union representing teachers in the French public system.