Public high school teachers to strike Wednesday
TORONTO — High school teachers in more than a dozen boards across the province are set to strike Wednesday, as all of the major teachers’ unions ramp up pressure on the government amid contentious contract talks.
Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation members will stage a one-day strike at boards including the OttawaCarleton District School Board, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, Upper Grand District School Board, Durham District School Board and several across northern Ontario.
It also includes the Provincial Schools Authority, which is responsible for five provincial and demonstration schools for students with disabilities.
Union president Harvey Bischof says that he’ll call off the job action if the government takes class size increases off the table.
“It’s time for the Ford government to come to the table with meaningful responses to our proposals so that we can work toward a deal that protects the quality of education in Ontario,” Bischof said in a statement.
The strike will be the latest in a series of rotating strikes by the OSSTF and will be one of several job actions by teachers next week.
Elementary teachers are adding to a work-to-rule campaign Monday by no longer supervising extracurricular activities outside regular school hours, participating in field trips, or participating in assemblies, except to supervise students. They also plan to start rotating strikes Jan. 20.
Teachers in the English Catholic system are starting their own work-to-rule campaign Monday, including not participating in standardized testing, preparing report card comments or participating in Ministry of Education initiatives.
Boards across the province are postponing Monday’s scheduled EQAO standardized Grade 9 math test, with high school teachers also forgoing EQAO preparation as part of their own work-to-rule campaign since November.
The teachers’ unions are presenting a united front against the government, angered that before this round of talks even started the Tories announced class size increases, mandatory e-learning courses and legislated caps on salary increases.
The four major unions have joined together to take out a full-page ad Saturday in 16 newspapers across the province, saying Premier Doug Ford’s proposed education changes are “having a profoundly negative impact on Ontario’s world-class education system.”
Teachers were dismayed when the Tories announced in March that average secondary school class sizes would jump from 22 to 28 and four e-learning courses would be mandatory for graduation.
The province has since scaled back those increases, to an average class size of 25 and two elearning courses, but the unions say that’s not good enough.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce has repeatedly said the key sticking point in negotiations with high school teachers is compensation, with the unions demanding a roughly two-per-cent wage increase and the government offering one per cent.
The government enacted legislation limiting public sector wage increases to one per cent for three years.
The teachers’ unions and other labour groups are challenging the move in court as an unconstitutional violation of their collective bargaining rights.