TORONTO – Ontario elementary teachers hit the picket lines en masse Tuesday in their second provincewide strike meant to put pressure on the government while contract talks remain at a standstill.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario is also using the other four days of the week to stage rotating strikes, ensuring each board is hit twice a week. The union escalated strikes to that level after three long days of talks recently failed to produce an agreement.
The two sides haven’t returned to the bargaining table since then, and there are no new talks scheduled with ETFO or the high school or Catholic teachers’ unions.
The union representing teachers in the French system announced Tuesday it has agreed to return to the table Wednesday for one day of talks ahead of its first provincewide strike set for Thursday.
“We are still hoping to come to an agreement, but not at the expense of our students’ learning conditions and of Ontario’s high-quality education system,” president Remi Sabourin said in a statement.
ETFO president Sam Hammond has said his union was close to a deal with the government after those recent bargaining sessions, but the province’s negotiators suddenly tabled new proposals at the 11th hour that the union couldn’t accept.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce has said compensation is the main issue in the labour dispute, and teachers are calling for higher wages at the expense of their students.
Hammond has said compensation did not come up during the most recent round of contract talks.
Unions are asking for wage increases of around two per cent to keep up with inflation, but the government passed legislation last year capping wage hikes for all public sector workers at one per cent for three years. The teachers’ unions and several others are fighting the law in court, arguing it infringes on collective bargaining rights.
ETFO has also asked for the government to increase supports for students with special needs and address violence in classrooms.
Hammond said that isn’t happening at the bargaining table, but Lecce said the government “has continued to signal reasonableness”
on those issues.
As teachers in the French system hold their provincewide strike on Thursday, high school teachers are staging a one-day strike at select boards that same day.
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