Toronto: Adding to the woes of embattled provincial Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has announced a strike action, even as his talks with Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) broke down.
Secondary school teachers conducted a strike action on Wednesday (see below).
Starting Monday, January 13, public elementary school educators will no longer supervise extra-curricular activities unless they are scheduled within the regular school day nor will they participate in field trips. If the government refuses to address critical issues in talks by January 17, ETFO members will commence a full withdrawal of services strike on a rotating basis beginning January 20th.
As part of ETFO’s updated work-to-rule action, educators will not arrive to work earlier than 30 minutes before the start of the instructional day and will leave within 15 minutes at the end of the instructional day. They will not plan or participate in any assemblies except to provide supervision to students.
ETFO represents 83,000 elementary public school teachers, occasional teachers and education professionals across the province.
“In six months of contract talks, the Ford government’s education minister has given his negotiators no mandate to discuss anything other than cuts to education including a $150 million cut to public elementary education,” said ETFO President Sam Hammond. “That’s why there has been negligible progress on substantive issues like supports for Special Education, protecting the Kindergarten model, addressing classroom-based violence and compensation that keeps up with the cost of inflation.”
“This government’s approach to education sector contract talks is a sham. The government representatives have confirmed that they have no mandate to negotiate issues beyond cuts. They have met with ETFO for a very limited time on each of the 22 days of bargaining since August making it obvious that there is no intention or ability for them to address serious issues affecting the education of elementary students and educators,” said Hammond.
“Contract talks are not being helped by Ford’s Education Minister Stephen Lecce making public announcements that misrepresent what his team is doing at the bargaining table. The disconnect is so great that we’re left shaking our heads. Minister Lecce claims in public that there will be no changes to the Kindergarten model, but refuses to make that commitment during bargaining. The Minister claims salary is the main sticking point in bargaining, yet it’s been a topic that has received hardly any discussion over months of bargaining,” he added.
Lecce says it hurts children
Lecce said “it’s time for union leaders to end the games and the cyclical experience of escalation that hurts Ontario students. Union leaders promised that their escalation would not impact students and their learning. Regrettably, they have again broken that promise, however we will uphold our commitment to parents, to stay at the bargaining table and work as hard as it takes to reach a deal, that keeps students in class,” he said in response to the ETFO action.
“We have delivered a ratified deal, and most recently a tentative deal, with education unions to date, and we are working to deliver further agreements that achieve our priority of keeping students in class,” he added.
OECTA talks break down
Meanwhile, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) said it is greatly disappointed that collective bargaining discussions with the government and the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association have broken down.
“Our association has been able to work with the Catholic school trustees to make progress on a
number of important issues, but thus far the government has not played a constructive role,” says
OECTA President Liz Stuart. “The government has been firm that they have no intention of
reconsidering their reckless, unpopular cuts. We came to the table ready to work through today and
tomorrow, but after only half-a-day, even the Ministry of Labour-appointed conciliator agrees there
is not much more we can accomplish for the time being.”
With no deal having been reached, OECTA members across the province will be taking administrative job action beginning Monday, January 13. As part of the job action, Catholic teachers will not be completing report cards, participating in EQAO-related activities, and attending or participating in Ministry of Education initiatives, among other things.
“We simply cannot and will not accept an agreement that would result in thousands of teaching positions and tens of thousands of course options being eliminated, classes growing to 40 students or more, and vital services and supports for vulnerable students being lost. At some point, the government needs to acknowledge that the ball is in their court to do the right thing. They keep saying they are being reasonable and working on behalf of Ontarians, but today we have seen yet again that they are content to waste everyone’s time and resources without engaging in any meaningful way. Until we see some evidence to the contrary, Ontarians can only assume that this government actually has no intention of negotiating an agreement,” Stuart added.
In response, Minister Lecce said: “Union-led escalation to a partial withdrawal of services, including targeting EQAO testing and report cards, hurts our children the most.
Parents are justifiably frustrated that teacher unions escalate every few years. That is why we are calling on the union to cease from escalating, and focus on reaching a deal that provides stability for our students.”
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