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
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
DEVELOPING Alberta's request for federal assistance approved after fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
Jasper mayor says alert system to be reviewed after message 'glitch'
More than 25,000 people have been displaced from Jasper National Park since wildfires started to threaten the picturesque corner of Alberta Rockies on Monday, but the mayor of its namesake municipality says not everyone received an evacuation alert when it was sent out.
Canada's premiers forced to confront escalating climate change-related disasters
Many of Canada's provincial and territorial leaders remained consumed by climate change-related natural disasters that have only escalated since they met for meetings in Halifax last week.
Biden explains why he ended re-election bid in Oval Office address
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Unclaimed bodies are piling up in Newfoundland. A funeral director blames the government
A funeral director in St. John's says the bodies piling up in freezers at Newfoundland and Labrador's largest hospital likely belong to people whose loved ones couldn't get enough government help to pay for a funeral.
U.K. police officer suspended after video appears to show a man being kicked in head
A British police officer was suspended from all duties Thursday after a video was posted on social media that appeared to show an officer kicking and stamping on the head of a man lying on the floor of a terminal at Manchester Airport.
Norad intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers operating together near Alaska in apparent first
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Monday breaks the record for the hottest day ever on Earth
Driven by oceans that won't cool down, an unseasonably warm Antarctica and worsening climate change, Earth's record hot streak dialed up this week, making Monday the hottest day humans have measured.