Teachers kick off work to rule
Union says job action intended to increase pressure on province
More than 140,000 public elementary and secondary teachers have officially started their work-to-rule campaign in Ontario schools.
While students will remain largely unaffected — save for no comments on any upcoming report cards — families may have noticed elementary teachers entering school together on Tuesday morning. The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario had requested that members — who also include early childhood educators in some boards — to take part in a “solidarity action” and meet out front of their school and head in en masse 15 minutes before the bell.
Meanwhile, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation said its members will hold information pickets either before or after school, or at lunch — handing out pamphlets to parents and members of the public, but not students.
The elementary teachers’ union said this first phase of the job action “is intended to put the government’s feet to the fire so it will negotiate deals that acknowledge the professionalism of ETFO members, are good for students and support Ontario’s world-class education system.” President Sam Hammond said the union “wants the Ford government to work with us on important issues, but, so far, it has not shown much interest in doing that. Our members are getting impatient, and they are taking strike action because it seems to be the only way to get this government’s attention.”
He said while the education minister has said only a few issues remain, “that is not the case. We are very far apart on many substantive items that affect both ETFO members and student learning environments.”
The union has said the Ford government wants to strip $150 million from elementary education, including teachers and supports for special needs students. Hammond has also raised concerns that the government has so far refused to commit to the current staffing model for full-day kindergarten.
In a statement, Education Minister Stephen Lecce accused the two unions of choosing “to escalate work-to-rule action, only hurting our children. This escalation to a partial withdrawal of services, including targeting math supports and report cards, hurts our children the most.” The government has moved on a few controversial issues in recent days, including class size and e-learning. Lecce said the province “has remained a consistent and reasonable force at the negotiating table, trying to reach a deal that provides certainty and predictability to parents, students, and educators.”
“As evidenced by the voluntarily negotiated agreement with CUPE, I know we can get there through working together in good faith, so that students remain in class,” he said of the October deal reached with support staff that provided a one per cent wage increase annually in the three-year deal, as well as more than $230 million in additional funding to restore hours or even jobs for caretakers, early childhood educators, educational assistants and office staff.
The province’s Catholic teachers, which recently gave their union a strong strike mandate, have asked for the help of a conciliator in bargaining, which puts them a step closer to job action.
Teachers in the province’s 12 French-language boards will soon be taking strike votes.
While talks continue with the unions, all have expressed frustration over the little progress that has been made.
The elementary and secondary teachers’ unions say their job action will include a ban on participating or preparing for EQAO standardized testing — with the next round of tests scheduled for January, for Grade 9 math.
“(Premier) Doug Ford’s Minister of Education would have Ontarians believe that he’s eager to get to a deal,” said Harvey Bischof, president of the high school teachers’ union, which also represents support staff in some boards.
“But the bargaining process has been underway for months now, and through that entire time the government side of the table has willfully avoided any meaningful discussion of issues that are crucial to the quality of education in Ontario. They have simply refused to acknowledge the devastating effect that increased class sizes, mandatory e-learning, and the loss of thousands of teacher and support staff positions will have on the province’s students.”
However, he added, the job action does not meant that there can’t be a negotiated settlement.
Teacher unions are opposed to a number of government initiatives, including the move to bigger classes starting in Grade 4.
In high school, the province wants to boost the average size of classes from last year’s 22 to 25, down from an original proposal of 28, though thousands of teaching positions will still be phased out.
Even moving to an average of 22.5 this year has led to fewer teachers in the system and limited course options for teens.
The government also wants to mandate two online courses in high school — down from its original four.
“We are hoping these types of moves will incentivize the parties to stay at the table and get deals with us,” Lecce said Monday.
Even at two, such a requirement would be an anomaly in North America, where just a handful of U.S. states either mandate or simply encourage students to take an e-learning course.
“This government has been trying to pick a fight with unions since Day One,” NDP education critic Marit Stiles has said.
Families, she added, are concerned because “the cuts the government is making are harmful.”
At Queen’s Park on Monday, the president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association released a Nanos Research poll showing larger class sizes are unpopular with Ontarians.
Cathy Abraham said the association is continuing to discuss the issue with the province, saying an average of 25 students is “not ideal.”
“Our members … are taking strike action because it seems to be the only way to get this government’s attention.”
SAM HAMMOND ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO PRESIDENT