Ontario education workers to receive pay boost after Bill 124 ruled unconstitutional

The union representing 55,000 education workers across Ontario says it has reached a deal for repayment after Bill 124 was ruled to be unconstitutional by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

In a statement shared on social media, the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) said that Ontario’s education workers will receive a salary increase in the wake of the wage cap law being struck down.

“After a very long day of meetings, we are pleased to share that we have reached an agreement with the Crown and CTA regarding remedy for Bill 124,” said the council.

OSBCU said that retroactive compensation increases will be provided at 0.75 per cent for 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021, followed by an amount between 1.5 and 3.25 per cent for 2021 to 2022.

Amazing news for CUPE OSBCU Workers!#WorkerPowerWinsAgain pic.twitter.com/31QFVlC7Gn

— OSBCU-CSCSO (@osbcucscso) November 17, 2023

Additionally, wage rates in the 2022 to 2026 collective agreements will be increased and those upgrades will be pensionable. All premiums and allowances will be adjusted as well, said the council.

READ MORE: Ontario college faculty get salary boost after Bill 124 struck down

These new increases are set to be an addition to the one per cent that were received in the collective agreements of 2019 to 2022.

Education workers are the latest in Ontario to receive a retroactive boost in pay since the bill was repealed. The province’s college faculties, nurses and hospital workers have all been granted these increases over the past several months.

That 2019 law limited wage increases for broader public sector workers to one per cent a year for three years, but was declared unconstitutional late last year by an Ontario court.

The Ford government is appealing this ruling.

This comes after new contracts were ratified by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation in the past few months.