After nearly half a year without a collective agreement, teachers in the territory and the Yukon government have reached a tentative deal.

Its proposals include enabling substitute teachers to become members of the Yukon Teachers Association (YTA).

Their current ineligibility for membership has been a longstanding issue in the territory that has been raised in the courts and in the legislature.

The announcement was made Wednesday afternoon via a news release, which explained that the YTA and YG landed on the pact on Dec. 6.

The association’s last agreement expired last June 30, before the start of the current school year – which would have been an ideal time for it to be reached, YTA president Sue Harding told the Star this morning.

She said she is thankful for the deal nonetheless.

“We worked very hard to try and come to this agreement; there were ups and downs, but generally speaking, it was a good process,” she said.

It took slightly longer than she expected and hoped, she added, as it would be ideal for teachers and other members to have more certainty heading into the new school year.

“I thought we might originally – being optimistic – by this September (have reached one),” she added.

The association went to the table with a list of about 10 priorities from its membership.

Two of the top three were met, along with six that ranked toward the more bottom of the list.

“So that’s a good thing.”

That membership amounts to about 900.

If the agreement is ratified, it would bring in an additional 100 members who are teachers on call, Harding said.

The group currently includes educational assistants, principals, administrators and vice-principals.

She preferred not to speak to the details of the agreement until after the ratification vote by her members.

Meanwhile, sub teachers in the territory are currently not covered by an agreement nor represented by a union.

That’s something the association has been trying to change by bringing them under its agreement.

As per reports from October, the number of sub teachers available is down by nearly half or more, something Harding has spoken to in the past. She guessed it was reflective of the teacher shortage across the country.

The group has also considered raising the daily pay for sub teachers who are certified from its existing $218.

(For contrast, those working in the territory’s southern neighbour, B.C., earn $325).

The tentative agreement also comes after at least four sub teachers took the government to small claims court, suing for what they called unpaid wages.

The rates of sub teachers are expected to rise at the same time, and rates of regular employees via the agreement between the YTA and YG, the government’s lawyer had said at the time.

Harding did not comment on the specific details of the tentative agreement.

It will now be considered for ratification by the parties, and details, such as any salary increases, will become available after that.

Harding added she and the team will recommend it be ratified ahead of the association’s Jan. 14 meeting to vote on it.

A salary grid available via the Department of Education’s webpage and effective as of July 2017 shows that someone with one year of experience can earn between $73,000 and $81,000 per year.

Those with about five years can expect to make between $86,000 to $95,000 annually, while those with a decade earn between $103,000 to $112,000.

The department can also offer subsidies for those applicants who move to the territory and are successful in getting work.

In some cases, subsidized housing is offered for rural communities.