Mcguinty asks teachers’ unions to leave students out of dispute
TORONTO — Teachers should resolve their dispute over pay with the governing Liberals in court, not by depriving students of extracurricular activities, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation said it’s possible teachers could withdraw from voluntary activities for two years in protest of a controversial anti-strike law that allows the government to impose a new collective agreement.
“It’s something that we’re not ruling out, and it really is dependent upon how the current government or the next government — or the next premier — handles the situation,” said Paul Elliott, the union’s vice-president.
But McGuinty said he doesn’t understand why teachers are involving students by stopping voluntary activities and staging one-day strikes.
“It’s one thing for teachers to withdraw their goodwill from us, but it’s another thing to withdraw the goodwill from students,” he said.
“I think students have to be able to count on those extracurricular activities. They are such an important part of an enriched educational experience.”
But he said he won’t make extracurricular activities mandatory.
The Progressive Conservatives say they’d consider making the activities mandatory.
“I think that we need to look at that and do something about it,” said education critic Lisa MacLeod.
The unions say the job action isn’t about money, but the legislation that violates their constitutional rights. Four unions have joined forces to take the government to court over the law.
But McGuinty said a deal is still possible before the end of the year. His government managed to strike an agreement with Ontario doctors after a “bumpy and very rocky road” over pay. It also reached a deal with Catholic and francophone teachers this summer.
If teachers don’t reach local deals with their school boards by Dec. 31, the province will impose one that will freeze the wages of most instructors and cut their benefits, such as the number of sick days they’re allowed to take each year.
What teachers will do if a contract is forced on them “remains to be seen,” Elliott said.
Teachers could strike, he said. “At some point … we could possibly decide on a full withdrawal of services, but it really is dependent upon the decisions that the minister of education makes.”
Public elementary teachers have started rotating one-day strikes, which are expected to roll out across the province before Dec. 20.
They began Monday in the Stratford and Timmins area and spread Tuesday to Niagara and Keewatin-Patricia in northwestern Ontario.
Wednesday, teachers in Ottawa-Carleton, Lakehead in Thunder Bay and Hastings-Prince Edward will walk out.