THUNDER BAY — Nearly a decade after Premier Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government passed legislation that violated teachers' collective bargaining rights, a court has awarded damages to the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario.
"It brings a conclusion to a long and difficult situation, for sure," says Mike Judge, president of the ETFO local in Thunder Bay.
Superior Court Justice Thomas Lederer on Wednesday awarded damages of $103 million for the consequences of Bill 115.
Passed in 2012, the Putting Students First Act required any collective agreement negotiated between a school board and a teachers bargaining unit to be consistent with a memorandum of understanding the government had negotiated with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association.
Failing that, the government would impose such a collective agreement.
In 2016, a court ruled that the province had substantially interfered with meaningful collective bargaining for teachers and other education workers, contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Three unions subsequently reached settlements with the government, but the ETFO wound up going back to court.
Judge calls Justice Lederer's decision "a strong acknowledgement of the violation of teachers' charter rights and interference in collective bargaining" and "a statement that the government was really wrong, and shouldn't have done it."
But he said it doesn't come close to capturing the financial losses suffered by union members.
"It's really only a three per cent payout on the losses incurred...pennies on the dollar from the government's perspective. Certainly it was a government of a different stripe that did this, but hopefully, moving forward, they'll realize that's not a place that they should go."
ETFO President Karen Brown expressed similar sentiments.
She said the union welcomes the court's decision, but "it does not replace the loss of ETFO members' bargaining rights, nor the sick leave, gratuities, and salary [they] lost" as part of a government austerity push.
Brown said Bill 115 interfered with lawful collective bargaining activities for three years, while keeping government actions beyond the review of the Ontario Labour Relations Board, outside the reach of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, and above the courts.
"It should never have been introduced," she said.
Under the terms of the order, ETFO members who were employed between Sept. 1, 2012 and Aug. 31, 2014 – including those who are no longer employed by a school board – may be eligible for payouts if they meet specific criteria.
The union said details including the amount of damages paid to individuals, and how it will be distributed, will be shared with members and former members in the days ahead.
