Teachers rally in support of strikes as boards argue they’re illegal

WATCH: Thousands of Ontario teachers rallied outside the provincial legislature today as the province’s Labour Relations Board considers whether strikes by high school teachers in three boards should be declared illegal.

TORONTO – Thousands of Ontario teachers rallied outside the provincial legislature today as the province’s Labour Relations Board considers whether strikes by high school teachers in three boards should be declared illegal.

Holding up signs and union flags, teachers chanted their support for their striking colleagues in Durham Region, Rainbow District, which includes the Sudbury area, and Peel Region.

“This premier promised us – promised us – a year ago that she would do nothing to strip our collective agreements and now she’s turning around and trying to do it,” said Mary Karchemny, an elementary school occasional teacher in Waterloo Region.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This premier promised us - promised us - a year ago that she would do nothing to strip our collective agreements and now she's turning around and trying to do it," said Mary Karchemny, an elementary school occasional teacher in Waterloo Region.

She said many feel “very disheartened” at the tone of discussions with the province, adding it’s important for teachers across various unions to stand together.

Morale could be further affected if the Labour Relations Board mandates teachers back to work, said James Clyke, president of the Rainbow District local.

“If they are successful in overturning the strike, I’m not quite sure what’s going to happen. It’s not a very good relationship,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "If they are successful in overturning the strike, I'm not quite sure what's going to happen. It's not a very good relationship," he said.

Education Minister Liz Sandals said the protest “really doesn’t change anything” as far as the province is concerned.

“Our resolve is to carry on with negotiations and conclude negotiated collective agreements,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Our resolve is to carry on with negotiations and conclude negotiated collective agreements," she said.

Striking teachers could find out as early as this afternoon whether they will be sent back to the classroom.

More than 70,000 students have been out of class for weeks and the three school boards say the strikes are unlawful.

The boards believe the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation is staging local strikes on central issues, which is not allowed under a new bargaining system the Liberal government introduced last year.

READ MORE: ‘It’s just unfair for students’: Durham Region teachers strike

It separates local and central negotiating, with issues such as money and class sizes being discussed at the provincial table.

The local unions deny the school boards’ assertion that the local strikes are just part of an overall provincial strategy to put pressure on the government.

Sandals says if the Ontario Labour Relations Board decides the strikes are illegal it’s also up to the boards to provide direction on any next steps.

“The most important thing to understand is the fact that the OLRB is looking at the issue of three specific local strikes doesn’t prevent us from negotiating at the central table,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The most important thing to understand is the fact that the OLRB is looking at the issue of three specific local strikes doesn't prevent us from negotiating at the central table," she said.

However, no central negotiations are taking place with either the high school teachers or the elementary teachers, who are staging a work-to-rule strike. Both sets of talks are at an impasse but Sandals said the ministry is working to get everyone back to the central tables. Secondary school support staff negotiations did take place Wednesday, she said.

Sandals says the ministry wants to make arguments at the hearing because it has a legal interest in issues related to the structure and purpose of the School Board Collective Bargaining Act.