Education minister defends $2.5 million in union payouts for lengthy bargaining

Ontario's education minister is defending $2.5 millionin special payouts to teachers' unions, saying the groups incurred

extra costs during the latest round of bargaining -- due to theLiberal government's new system.

Liz Sandals refused to reveal how much the government spent onthe compensation while it is still in negotiations with theElementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario and support staff unions.

But a memorandum of settlement shows the government agreed to paythe Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation $1 million tocompensate the union. The Ontario English Catholic Teachers'Association (OECTA) also received $1 million, its president said, while theFrench teachers' union received $500,000.

"I don't think of it as compensation per se," Sandals saidafter question period. "I think of it as investing in transforming

a system that didn't work."

This year's talks with teachers and support staff unions were thefirst under the Liberals' new, two-tier bargaining system, underwhich the unions negotiate central deals with the province, thenlocal deals are hammered out with the union locals and schoolboards.

It was a "very long process," Sandals said. It took six monthsalone for the parties to work out which issues would be central andwhich would be local.

OECTA spent 47 days in "active bargaining" and incurred manycosts such as renting rooms in which to bargain, said president AnnHawkins. The union has never received such compensation before, shesaid.

"The reality is, this was a brand new process," she said. "Thegovernment, well, everybody thought it might be a little bit moreefficient. It turned out it wasn't."

The circumstances will not reoccur, Sandals said, because "we'renever going to have to figure out every clause in every collectiveagreement again."

In fact, the government has also made extra payments to theschool boards because of the same costs, but Sandals couldn't saywhat amount.

ETFO said it has neither requested nor accepted government funds,and will pay for all its own bargaining expenses.

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said a $1-millionpayout is "not an appropriate bargaining technique."

"This is the government's mistake," he said. Neither the unionnor the students created the new system, but they "are paying forthe government's incompetence," Brown said.

The deal with high school teachers included a one-per-cent lumpsum payment this year and a one-per-cent raise as of Sept. 1, 2016,with another half per cent later.

The Liberal government said the deal was net zero, meaning theraises were offset by finding savings elsewhere.

The settlement agreement reveals the government was able to fundthose raises both by offering teachers who had banked sick daysunder previous collective agreements smaller payouts next yearinstead of receiving more upon retirement, and cancelling a fund forspecial programs that help struggling students graduate.

In 2012, the government agreed with the unions to defer the finalyear of the special teacher hiring program to 2014, but since thegraduation rate has gone up everyone agreed it could be cancelled,Sandals said.