Labour Updates

In Ontario, we have a two-tier collective bargaining process for school boards and their staff. It involves central (provincial) and local bargaining processes for staff groups, including teachers and support staff.

In August 2019, provincial and local contracts for all education workers in the province of Ontario expired. In the SCDSB, this means that all our unionized groups are at different stages of contract negotiations at the provincial and local level.

Unionized groups that represent SCDSB staff are:

APSSP (attendance counselors, speech and language pathologists, behavioural service coaches, social workers, psychologists and applied behaviour analysis coordinators)
CUPE (maintenance workers and custodians)
ETFO Contract Teachers (permanent elementary teachers)
ETFO Designated Early Childhood Educators (DECEs)
ETFO Occasional Teachers (elementary occasional teachers)
OPSEU (educational assistants and secretarial support staff)
OSSTF Continuing Education Instructors
OSSTF Contract Teachers (permanent secondary teachers)
OSSTF Occasional Teachers (secondary occasional teachers)

Our priority during any job action is the safety of our students. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates on the status of negotiations and our schools whenever possible. As a board, we respect all our staff members and value their work. We remain committed to reaching fair, negotiated agreements with all our employee groups.

Latest update - as of Dec. 6, 2019

SCDSB secondary schools and adult learning centres closed Wednesday, Dec. 11 should a tentative agreement not be reached

On Dec. 6, the provincial branch of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) announced their intent to proceed with rotating one-day walkouts in a number of school boards across Ontario, with the first occurring on Wednesday, Dec. 11. The Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) has been identified as one of the boards that will be affected on Wednesday, Dec. 11. In the SCDSB, OSSTF represents permanent and occasional secondary teachers and continuing education instructors.

Should a tentative agreement not be reached, all SCDSB secondary schools and adult learning centres will be closed to students on Wednesday, Dec. 11, as there would not be sufficient supervision to ensure student safety. All Grade 7 and 8 students at Elmvale District High School and Stayner Collegiate Institute will still report to school for classes as usual.

All secondary out-of-school activities will also be cancelled on Dec. 11.

Please note that all SCDSB elementary schools will remain open to students on Dec. 11.

For ongoing updates, visit the labour updates page on our website or follow us on social media (Twitter: @SCDSB_Schools or Facebook: www.facebook.com/SCDSB).

Thank you for your understanding.

Information regarding ETFO job action (Nov. 21, 2019)

On Nov. 14, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) provincial branch confirmed that job action in the form of work-to-rule will begin across Ontario on Tuesday, Nov. 26. Work-to-rule means a partial withdrawal of service by the employee group.

In the SCDSB, this branch of ETFO represents our permanent elementary teachers, occasional elementary teachers and designated early childhood educators (DECEs). SCDSB schools will remain open to staff and students during this job action.

ETFO has advised that this job action will affect primarily administrative tasks related to Ministry of Education and school board initiatives. Extracurricular and other school events are expected to continue.

We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates whenever possible. For more information and updates, visit this page or follow us on social media (Twitter: @SCDSB_Schools or Facebook: www.facebook.com/SCDSB).

Thank you for your understanding.

Keeping SCDSB school communities informed

Labour updates are issued on our website, Facebook (www.facebook.com/SCDSB), Twitter (@SCDSB_Schools) and on the labour updates information line at 1-877-728-1187.