The Ford government “pre-empted” negotiations by changing class sizes, violating the labour and school board bargaining acts, says the province’s Catholic teachers in a complaint to Ontario’s labour relations board.

The challenge was filed “on the advice of legal counsel,” said Liz Stuart, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), in a statement obtained by the Star.

“The association contends that when the government amended class-size regulations at the end of August — while negotiations were ongoing — they violated the ‘statutory freeze’ provisions under the School Boards Collective Bargaining Act and the Ontario Labour Relations Act” that essentially extends a contract once it has expired if no new deal has been reached, Stuart said.

“By essentially pre-empting the bargaining process, the government has also contravened our Charter right to bargain collectively,” Stuart also said. “OECTA’s priority is to negotiate a collective agreement that protects and enhances working and learning conditions in our schools. To do this, we must be able to trust the government to respect the integrity of the bargaining process.”

Earlier this year, the province announced it was boosting classes in Grades 4 to 8 by an average of one student, and in high school from an average of 22 to 28, over the next four years.

The change will see about 3,500 teaching positions phased out — though unions have pegged it at double that number.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce has said he is willing to listen to “innovative” proposals from the unions at the bargaining table on how to offset larger class sizes that fall within the government’s “fiscal realities.”

“Our government is focused on delivering a deal that protects our children’s future, invests in their potential, and ultimately keeps them in the classroom, where they belong,” said Alexandra Adamo, Lecce’s spokesperson, after OECTA filed the labour board complaint.

“Our government will not be deterred from our mission to reach a deal that ensures that students remain in class. We will continue to bargain with our union partners in good faith, to ensure our kids remain in class.”

The government and school board associations continue to negotiate with all education unions.

However, school support staff with the Canadian Union of Public Employees move closer to Sept. 30, when they can launch job action, and elementary teachers take strike votes this month and next.

The province’s public high school teachers and elementary and secondary Catholic teachers have not scheduled any strike votes as yet.

CUPE’s school board unit was at the bargaining table on Tuesday and Wednesday as scheduled, and talks continued under a media blackout with the help of mediator William Kaplan.