It is going to be another week of class disruptions in the ongoing contract battle between teachers and the province.
On Wednesday, Jan. 15, high school teachers with the Upper Canada District School Board will join their counterparts from a dozen other school boards in a day-long strike.
The teacher’s bargaining union president, Adrienne McEwen, told Global News that nearly 1,000 Upper Canada high school teachers and support staff will walk out of the classroom on Wednesday as they seek smaller class sizes and less e-learning, among other things.
“Talks have stalled. It’s absolutely disgraceful,” said McEwen.
“We’ve got kids that don’t have access to high-speed wifi,” she continued, explaining the union’s concerns with e-learning, “so if you don’t have access to that, you don’t have access to sophisticated software and don’t have access to technology at home.”
List of affected schools:
- Almonte District HS
- Athens District HS
- Brockville Collegiate Institute (BCI)
- Carleton Place HS (CPHS)
- Char-Lan District HS
- Cornwall Collegiate Vocational School (CCVS)
- Gananoque Secondary School
- Glengarry District HS (GDHS)
- North Dundas District HS (NDDHS)
- North Grenville District HS (NGDHS)
- Perth District & Collegiate Institute (PDCI)
- Rideau District HS
- Rockland District HS
- Russell HS
- St. Lawrence Secondary School (SLSS)
- Seaway District HS
- Smiths Falls District Collegiate Institute (SFDCI)
- South Grenville District HS (SGDHS)
- Tagwi Secondary School
- Thousand Islands Secondary School (TISS)
- T.R. Leger
- Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (VCI)
Meanwhile, elementary school teachers in Ontario stepped up their job action with a new phase of their work-to-rule campaign, announcing they’re no longer supervising extra-curricular activities outside regular school hours or participating in field trips or assemblies.
The ETFO is also threatening to start rotating strikes next Monday if the provincial government refuses to address critical issues by Friday.
The union for Catholic school teachers across the province announced Monday that they are planning a one-day province-wide strike on Tuesday, Jan. 21.