Ontario teacher unions could learn a few lessons from the Ontario Public Service Employees Union when it comes to tough bargaining in tough times, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan says.

Duncan on Wednesday praised OPSEU for negotiating a two-year wage freeze deal that helps the cash-strapped province, which faces a $14.5 billion deficit.

“We put 700 hours of bargaining in. ETFO put one hour in before they walked away from the table,” Duncan said, referring to the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, which had a similar agreement imposed upon its members last week.

“These are not easy times. ETFO can learn a lot from them (OPSEU),” he said.

The 35,280-member union reached a tentative contract in the wee hours Wednesday, but other than the wage freeze, no details are being released until ratification is completed later this month. The previous collective agreement with OPSEU expired Dec. 31.

OPSEU president Warren “Smokey” Thomas told the Star that given the tough economic times “it is a very livable agreement and we will be recommending it to our membership to ratify.”

Thomas acknowledged that “we didn’t get much in the way of improvements.”

According to unconfirmed reports, the proposed deal allows for newer hires, still moving their way through the grid system, to get slight financial improvements.