Ontario's 83,000 public elementary educators will be back on picket line Thursday.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) is holding its first one-day, province-wide strike amid stalled contract talks with the Ford government. Up until now the union has only been holding rotating, single-day walkouts at select school boards throughout the province.
They have now ramped up those rotating strikes hitting each school board with one a week, as well as adding in a province-wide walkout each week.
Their second province-wide strike is slated for next Tuesday.
ETFO President Sam Hammond previously said he hopes that the job action will spur Education Minister Stephen Lecce and the Ford government to return to the bargaining table.
“It is clear that [teachers] are not going to accept the government’s deep cuts to public education. The minister and his team must come to the table with a mandate to reach a deal that benefits students, student learning and educators,” said Hammond. “Educators must have the tools and supports to prepare students to realize their individual aspirations and productively contribute to the economic and social fabric of this province.”
The province is currently involved in tense contract talks with all four of Ontario’s major teacher unions, all of which are engaged in some form of job action, including work-to-rule campaigns.
