The 78,000 members of the Ontario Elementary Teachers Federation (EFTO) have voted to ratify the contract which was finally agreed upon between the union and the education department. ETFO says 86 per cent of its members voted in favour of the deal. What can possibly have motivated the other 14 per cent? That’s about 11,000 teachers. Did they vote no or were they too disgusted to bother. Education Minister Liz Sandals has said the key elements such as salary, are similar to those in agreements previously reached with the province’s English Catholic and public school teachers. Those deals included raises of 1.5 per cent plus another one-per-cent bonus. And, like those deals, Sandals has said those new agreements are net zero, meaning any salary increases are offset by savings elsewhere (could someone check that?)
