In December 2023, the Ministry of Education came to the Ontario Council of Educational Workers (OCEW) table and offered members a “Me-Too” agreement. The agreement set out financial increases on par with amounts awarded to CUPE educational workers. Explicit in this offer was the stipulation that member unions of OCEW would have to sign away their rights to seek remedies under the constitutional challenge to Bill 124. As per our last update, OCEW opted to turn down the Ministry’s proposal to instead pursue filing a “me too” grievance.
As you may recall, OCEW’s 2019-2022 central settlement contained a “me too” provision stipulating that if any other education worker central tables, such as OSSTF and ETFO, were awarded greater wage increases than OCEW for the 2019-22 period, such increases must also be provided to OCEW education workers.Over the last several months, OPSEU/SEFPO has met with the Crown and the Council of Trustees’ Association (CTA) regarding the remedy for Bill 124. Most recently, OPSEU/SEFPO met with our OCEW affiliates on May 22, 2024 to review a tentative agreement proposing to settle the “me too” grievance. The settlement would award members retroactive pay increases of:
0.75% for 2019-2020
0.75% for 2020-2021
2.75% for 2021-2022
The proposed amounts are in addition to the 1% already awarded to members in each year. Over the coming week, the Union will take the necessary next steps towards signing a Memorandum of Settlement.
We will confirm payments details once the agreement has been signed by the parties.
Thank you for your continued support and patience.
In solidarity, Ontario Council of Educational Workers