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Love Mom, Dad & Sandi 13 Happy Birthday Marlissa! 13 13 School board, support staff reach deal The Halton District School Board and a segment of its support staff have reached a tentative deal on a new contract. Negotiators for the HDSB and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) District 20 Halton Office, Clerical and Technical (OCTU) unit came to an agreement after a marathon bargaining session that went through the night last Friday. Twenty-five hours of talks resulted in a four-year deal between the board and OCTU, which represents more than 250 front-line office, clerical and technical staff at elementary and secondary schools and the main board administrative facilities. Both sides held ratification votes Wednesday. Results were not available at press time. The OCTU group, which includes secretaries, library technicians and repair technicians, had been without a contract since August 31, 2004. The new deal is retroactive to September 2004 and runs until August 2008. Neither party divulged details of the new pact prior to the votes however representatives for each group expressed relief that talks, which stalled at times, appear to be over. Last Thursday OCTU had stepped up job sanctions against the board on the eve of the resumption of talks. The first level of sanctions began May 1 and included members possibly delaying or slowing down work, leaving schools or the board office on time and not handling money related to school fundraising. OSSTF executive officer and chief negotiator Sandra Sahli and her counterpart at the bargaining table, Halton board executive officer of human resources and chief negotiator Dawn Beckett-Morton, said they are generally pleased with the deal. "I think everyone should respect the fact we both worked hard to get this agreement," said BeckettMorton.