High School teachers who staged illegal strikes last spring will receive full pension credits for the time they were off the job. The Liberal government has quietly agreed to create an exception to the rules for them. The decision will certainly fuel belief that Queen’s Park is frightened of the teachers unions and their capacity to either paralyze the school system from Thunder Bay to Niagara Falls — or unelect the Liberals. The move raises questions on whether the province has set a precedent and removed a disincentive for public employees to illegally strike. The Globe and Mail reported that a memo dated October 1, 2015 from the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan to school boards says the government made a deal to ensure teachers do not lose any pension over the walkout. It goes on to say teachers who tried to make up the days by working extra, will be eligible for refunds of those pension contributions, and teachers who have since retired but took part in illegal strikes will have their benefits recalculated.
