Education workers across Ontario have voted in favour of the deal reached with the provincial government and school boards in November.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees says 73 per cent of the over 41 thousand workers that voted agreed to the agreement.

President of CUPE’s Ontario School Boards Council of Unions Laura Walton says it shows that their workers are engaged.

“It is my greatest hope that this deal begins to alleviate the need and shows workers that after years of being overlooked and underappreciated that our work is valuable,” says Walton.

She notes during the ratification vote of their last contract in 2018, just 18 per cent of their members cast ballots.

“Like any other poll, the only one that counts is the actual day of the vote. There was a lot of things flying around social media and flying around everywhere, but I think what this showed is we made the right choice as the bargaining committee to bring the deal back to the workers.”

She believes the turning point was the introduction of Bill 28 which forced a deal on workers.

That bill was later repealed in its entirety by the Ford government.

The four-year deal includes a one-dollar-an-hour wage increase but no new money for additional staffing.

Walton says it is something they will continue to lobby for, hoping the momentum built up during the negotiations continues.