Teachers’ strike ruled out, for now
Services to be drastically curtailed
With contract talks stalled on the local front, provincial parliament prorogued and Ontario’s secondary teachers armed with strike deadlines starting today, the dispute between the government and its educators is entering unknown territory.
Jeff Brosseau, Essex region president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, said Tuesday, following the issuance of a Labour Relations Board no board report, that his membership will be in a position to strike Monday. Other OSSTF units across Ontario will be in a similar position as soon as today or early next week.
Brosseau said that in the near term, drastic job action such as an outright walkout is not contemplated.
Instead, the union’s provincial leadership is directing members to undertake other workplace “strike action.” The slowdown includes instructing teachers and staff not to attend open houses or information sessions with parents, not to respond to student or parental emails and not to participate in parent interviews and meetings outside of regular school day.
In addition, teachers will not provide progress or other written reports outside those provided at midterm or at the end of the term.
They will not participate in professional development meetings or seminars, unless self-directed and during school hours.
They will also not take part in EQAO or OSSLT activities, including preparing students for and administering the mandatory standardized government tests.
They will also not participate in school improvement plans, attend staff or department meetings, attend board committees or complete Ministry of Education reports.
However, the OSSTF directive says teachers will continue to provide instruction, prepare courses and mark students.
They may also provide extra help to students, the OSSTF says.
Brosseau added that teachers will still be able, if they choose, to take part in voluntary extracurricular activities, such as coaching teams and running clubs or music and arts programs.
He said the union does not keep track of how many teachers remain involved in such activities.
“It’s their personal choice whether to stop or go on participating,” he said. “We have no formal process to see how many actually are participating.”
Asked about the possibility of a walkout, Brosseau said: “I have no idea of which direction it’s going to go. We have no talks with the government right now, there’s a Liberal leadership bid going on and the (legislature) is prorogued.”
Meanwhile, talks with the Essex County District School Board, to resolve local issues, have also broken down.
Brosseau said negotiations stalled following a meeting last week and two subsequent bargaining sessions scheduled for this week have been cancelled.
Board director Warren Kennedy said the talks had been “amicable” but then the two sides ran into an immovable roadblock, the government’s Putting Students First Act. Under the legislation individual boards negotiating local contracts are instructed to follow the blueprint set by an earlier agreement signed between the Education Ministry and Catholic school teachers.
“We determined it was not worthwhile to continue talks,” Kennedy said. “There were areas we knew (the ministry) wouldn’t approve, given Bill 115. There was no reason to continue.”
Kennedy acknowledged the big stumbling block concerned the contentious issue of sick days. The government wants to cut the number of sick days allowed under the master contract from 20 to 10.
But Brosseau said the local board could have taken a leadership position in the negotiations.
“We tabled a similar but more palatable proposal for our members,” he said. “We have to find a board that is willing to step forward and say we can do this. Bill 115 makes it too difficult. … I put the blame squarely on the province.