The provincial government says it has tabled a new offer to the high school teachers’ union a\u00a0day before a planned one-day\u00a0strike across the province.<\/p>\n
Education Minister Stephen Lecce told reporters at Queen’s Park that provincial negotiators\u00a0made the\u00a0offer to the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n Lecce did not offer any details,\u00a0but described the offer\u00a0as “a new framework that we think in our estimation should keep them at the table.”<\/p>\n Lecce said the government wants to reach a deal with teachers to avoid a one-day strike.<\/p>\n Teachers plan to walk off the job on Wednesday in a bid to turn up the pressure during tense labour negotiations with the province.<\/p>\n OSSTF is already conducting a work-to-rule campaign and has been without a contract since the end of August.<\/p>\n Lecce says the main issue is compensation, with the government recently passing legislation to cap annual wage increases for all public sector workers at one per cent for three years.<\/p>\n The union is asking for inflationary increases, which would amount to about two per cent.<\/p>\n CBC<\/p>\n