Ford says wage increase for Ontario public school teachers will be 'more than 1 per cent'
Public-sector teachers in Ontario will see their wages increase by more than one per cent as legislation aimed at capping compensation for those workers is set to expire later this year.
Premier Doug Ford addressed Bill 124 during an unrelated news conference on Thursday, where he marked the upcoming cut to the provincial gas tax which is set to take effect on Friday.
“Well what I can tell you is, their [public-sector teachers] increase is going to be more than one per cent,” Ford said.
READ MORE: Doug Ford's re-election raises questions for Ontario health-care workers
The Progressive Conservative government passed the legislation, dubbed the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, in November of 2019 to limit wage bumps for public-sector workers to one per cent a year.
Touted at the time as a time-limited approach to help eliminate the deficit, the provisions were only set to be in effect for three years, but Ford has stayed tight-lipped on whether or not his government will repeal or extend the measures.
- Download our app to get local alerts to your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
His comments come as the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) -- which represents 55,000 education and other frontline workers in Ontario -- held a news conference at Queen’s Park to call for an end to the controversial bill, which also limits the wages of those working in the province’s health-care system.
“In light of historic inflation, currently at 7.7 per cent, that [one per cent wage increase] amounts to an unacceptable wage cut. This means that frontline workers – like PSWs, RPNs, caretakers at Universities, and so many others—are now struggling to make ends meet let alone get ahead,” the union said in a news release.
Amid the calls to repeal the measures in the face of growing inflation, Ford said he has “all the confidence” in Education Minister Stephen Lecce, who is tasked with negotiating the details of some major teacher contracts that are set to lapse.
“He’ll do a fine job and fairly negotiate a deal,” Ford said. “We fully understand inflation. We fully understand the cost of living is going up.”
Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education shakes hands with Premier Doug Ford as he takes his oath at the swearing-in ceremony alongside Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario Elizabeth Dowdeswell at Queen’s Park in Toronto on June 24, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Ford went on to say that while the increases teachers will see will not be “through the roof,” he maintained that negotiations will be “fair” and keep students in the classroom.
“I get it, I understand costs are going up. But we cannot have the kids out of school, no matter what,” he said.
“My message to the teachers unions is one thing: those kids have to be back in school in September. And they have to be back in school with extra-curricular activities.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.