February 2nd, 2017

Press Release
Thunder Bay On Tuesday January 31st the Ministry of Labour appointed Mediator
reconvened the bargaining between the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board
and its Elementary School Teachers.

Unfortunately after two long days of bargaining a tentative agreement was not achieved.

The Thunder Bay Catholic Elementary Teachers have been in a legal strike position
since last June. Teachers have already advised the Board that they will be escalating
their sanctions and start rotating strikes. Teachers have also said that they will provide
the Board with 24 hours notice before moving to a full withdrawal of service at any
school.

We are extremely frustrated. says Aldo Grillo, President of the Thunder Bay
Elementary Unit of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA). We
have been bargaining this contract since the fall of 2015 and to have it break down at
this stage shows a total lack of respect for the teachers.

There are no monetary items to be negotiated locally. The key issue has been the
criteria used for the internal movement of teachers already employed by the Board. The
Board continues to refuse to provide the same kind of staffing criteria that is already in
place in 15 or more Catholic School Boards in the province or for other employee
groups in this Board. It is shame that something like this is going to disrupt the
education of the students, says Grillo. There are no bargaining dates scheduled
although the teachers continue to offer voluntary binding arbitration to the school board
which, if accepted, would bring an immediate end to this dispute.

There are only 4 contracts that havent been settled in Catholic School Board
jurisdictions in the province 2 of them are with the Thunder Bay Catholic District
School Board.

The Thunder Bay Elementary Unit of OECTA represents approximately 380 members in
18 Catholic elementary schools in the City of Thunder Bay and the Thunder Bay CDS
Boards largest workgroup.

For more information, contact:

Aldo Grillo,
President, OECTA Thunder Bay Elementary Unit
807-345-6442 oectael@tbaytel.net