Ontario public sector teachers will see their salaries increase by more than one per cent, as legislation aimed at limiting the compensation of these workers will expire later this year.
Prime Minister Doug Ford addressed Bill 124 during an unrelated press conference on Thursday, marking the upcoming provincial gasoline tax cut that will go into effect Friday.
“Well, what I can tell you is, them [public-sector teachers] The increase will be more than one percent, ”Ford said.
The Progressive Conservative government passed the law, called the Sustainable Public Sector Protection Act for Future Generations, in November 2019 to limit wage increases for public sector workers to one percent annually.
Considered then a time-limited approach to helping eliminate the deficit, the provisions were only in place for three years, but Ford has stood firm on whether his government will repeal or extend measures.
His comments come when the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents 55,000 education workers and other front-line workers in Ontario, held a press conference in Queen’s Park to call for an end to the controversy. bill, which also limits the salaries of those who work in the health system of the province.
“In view of historical inflation, currently at 7.7 percent, this [one per cent wage increase] it means an unacceptable salary cut. This means that front-line workers, such as PSWs, RPNs, university carers and so many others, are now struggling to get to the end of the month and even less to move forward, ”the union said in a press release.
Amid calls to repeal measures in the face of rising inflation, Ford said he has “full confidence” in Education Minister Stephen Lecce, who is tasked with negotiating details of some of the major teacher contracts. which are becoming extinct.
“He’ll do a good job and negotiate a deal right,” Ford said. “We fully understand inflation. We fully understand that the cost of living is rising.”
Ford went on to say that while the increases teachers will see will not be “through the ceiling,” he maintained that the negotiations will be “fair” and will keep students in the classroom.
“I understand, I understand that costs are rising. But we can’t leave kids out of school, no matter what, ”he said.
“My message to the teachers’ unions is one thing: these children have to go back to school in September. And they have to go back to school with extracurricular activities ”.