Ontario teacher contract talks have stalled. The Ford government and Ontario’s public education unions have clashed over the ‘central/local split.’ The Ontario School Board Council of Unions, which represents non-teacher education workers, denounced the government’s bargaining position as a “power grab.” This past spring, the Ford government passed legislation that stripped elected school board trustees of much of their decision-making power and excluded them from the contract negotiating process almost entirely. Going into these negotiations, education unions made it clear they wanted to have their new contracts ready by the time current ones expire on Aug. 31.