Elementary teachers with the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board walked off the job Tuesday as part of rotating strikes organized by their provincial union.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has been staging one-day strikes in an effort to reach a new contract agreement with the province. A provincewide strike by ETFO members is planned for Thursday, Feb. 6 if a deal isn’t reached by Jan. 31.
Tuesday’s labour action saw the board close all of its elementary schools and classes for intermediate grades in secondary schools.
ETFO members in Peterborough rallied outside schools and outside the Water Street constituency office of Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith.
The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board serves Peterborough, Peterborough County, Northumberland County and the municipality of Clarington.
Shirley Bell, president of the Kawartha Pine Ridge ETFO local, says parents might be frustrated with the rotating strikes but she says they support the teachers.
“(Parents) might get frustrated because it’s going to be a continued inconvenience,” she said. “But we have a lot of support from parents and I think parents completely understand why we’re doing this. They understand what’s at stake.”
Jen Deck, occasionali teacher and president of the KPR ETFO says she hopes the strike action shows the government that teachers are “serious.”
“This is over 200,000 teachers and education workers giving up a day’s pay and more days in the future because we care so much about students,” she said. “The government keeps talking numbers, and I think they’ve forgotten about the students. But we haven’t.”
Smith and Northumberland-Peterborough South MPP David Piccini issued the same press releases on Tuesday morning, stating they both “continue to stand up against” the withdrawal of services to students with the board and across Ontario.
“Teacher union leaders broke their promise to not adversely impact student learning by withdrawing services for our kids, including EQAO math testing, extracurriculars, and providing important feedback on report cards,” the releases read.
According to the Ontario government, as of Jan. 26, it has received 222,253 applications for the Support for Parents initiative — a child-care credit ranging from $25 to $60 a day for families affected by teacher and education worker job action.
“We recognize the impact of union escalation on families is real,” Smith and Piccini said. “That’s why our government launched its Support for Parents initiative that puts money directly into the pockets of parents. The immense uptake of our Support for Parents initiative, of over 200,000 applications, speaks volumes to the level of uncertainty union-led strike action causes and family need during these uncertain times.”
The release from the MPPs says that for decades, families have faced union job action “far too often.”
“Students deserve better, and most importantly, our government believes they deserve to be in class,” the release states. “We will continue our work with one focus: landing deals that keep students in class and ensuring our investments are in front-line supports.”
Also joining the elementary teachers on Tuesday was Kevin McFadden, chief negotiator and district officer for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation District 14. He says it’s important to show solidarity with their ETFO colleagues.
More to come.
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