High school teachers hold strike votes

The union representing public high school teachers is conducting strike votes across the province. At the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation plan to hold votes from Nov. 3 to Nov. 5.

At the Ottawa board, that union also represents educational assistants, early childhood educators, office staff and custodians.

The vote is expected to be complete by Nov. 15.

On Friday, the conciliator in those negotiations released a “noboard” report, starting a 17-day countdown to when the teachers and other staff who belong to the union would be in a legal strike position as of Nov. 18.

That does not mean they will strike, just that they are legally entitled to stage work actions, which could include a work-to-rule, partial or general strike.

The big issues with high school teachers is the Ontario government’s plans to increase class sizes and require students to take four courses online.

The government has ordered school boards to increase the average high school class from 22 to 28 over the next four years. Education Minister Stephen Lecce suggested during bargaining that class sizes could only be increased to 25 instead. Union officials rejected that idea, saying the government also wanted to eliminate limits on maximum class sizes now contained in many collective agreements.

This year, the average high school class has increased to 22.9 students, causing some boards to cancel classes. Ottawa has been insulated from the impact partly because enrolment is increasing, so the boards are taking in extra revenue.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board hasn’t raised class sizes yet. At the Ottawa Catholic School Board, class sizes were projected to increase to 23.5 students this fall. As a result, that board planned to cut 45 class sections at its 15 high schools.

If classes increase to an average of 28, about 10,054 teaching positions would be lost across the province, Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office says.

The union representing 45,000 English Catholic teachers will conduct strike votes on Nov. 12 and 13. It will be done electronically, so results should be known quickly.

Negotiations are not as advanced for the union representing teachers from French-language school boards.

Substantive bargaining only began in early October and is continuing, with dates scheduled for the next two weeks. jmiller@postmedia.com twitter.com/JacquieAMiller