TORONTO

Elementary teachers union president Sam Hammond says Premier Kathleen Wynne doesn’t owe the labour movement anything for its role in the crushing election defeat of Tory leader Tim Hudak.

While Hammond, leader of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), touted the union’s role in Hudak’s defeat and subsequent resignation, he said it was necessary to protect teachers.

But Ontario’s newly-minted Liberal premier doesn’t have a debt to pay to unions who organized against the Progressive Conservatives.

“The premier has made no promises,” Hammond said. “The premier owes me nothing or the labour movement nothing per say. We need to, on behalf of my members, build a relationship with this government going forward.”

During a 30-minute speech at the union’s annual general meeting Monday, Hammond continued to slam Hudak’s plan for Ontario. ETFO supported the Liberals in some ridings in the June election despite fractious contract talks and the imposition of a salary freeze and benefit roll-back under former premier Dalton McGuinty in 2012, he said.

“We decided that the risks of a Hudak government were too great.”

Hammond said he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the new bargaining process introduced by the government and talks set to being this fall. The province and school boards will sit down at the same table with the teacher’s union for the first time Sept. 3.

But Hammond was critical of Wynne’s public statements about holding the line on public sector salaries and benefits.

“What I wish would happen is that the government would stop bargaining in the media,” he said. “Because to go out and say that’s exactly what you’re going to do at the table, you start this whole problem around negotiations and trying to keep those behind closed doors.”

The current agreement between the teachers and province expires on Aug. 31.

Hammond said he is going to avoid a repeat of the 2012 contract battle “at all costs.”

Wynne told reporters in Ottawa Monday that her government has made it clear that the collective bargaining process must work within the existing funding envelope, as was the case with the recent tentative agreement reached with the association representing public sector managers, AMAPCEO.

“There’s no new money in the budget for those salaries and wages,” Wynne said, when asked about teacher pay hikes. “I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to do that because we are demonstrating that it can be done.”

— With files from Antonella Artuso