Public high school teachers at 10 school boards including Lambton-Kent walked off the job Wednesday in the third one-day strike this month.
Secondary schools were closed and classes cancelled across the region as teachers hit the picket lines in cold, blustery weather.
French language schools including Ecole Les Rapides and Franco-Jeunesse were also closed because workers including support staff are also represented by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation. (OSSTF)
Contract talks with the province were cancelled Tuesday by the mediator who said they were a waste of time if no one was bringing anything new to the table. The mediator suggested the OSSTF and the Progressive Conservative government take the holidays to consider their positions and meet again in the new year.
Great Lakes Secondary School teacher Chris Sommer told BlackburnNews.com on the picket line Wednesday morning that escalated job action may be necessary in 2020.
"We'll have to see how the negotiations go but if things remain at a stalemate I'm sure that that will have to be addressed in the future," said Sommer. "I don't know how the negotiations will go, hopefully, it's over soon."
Sommer said they're taking a stand against cuts to education.
"We're continuing to fight for student rights, we're hoping that we have a reversal on the cuts to support staff, the classroom sizes, and the e-learning," he said.
Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce has suggested compensation is a key issue with the OSSTF insisting on a $1.5 billion increase in pay and benefits.
Teachers' federations and various other public sector unions are legally challenging the Doug Ford government's law capping public sector wage increases at one per cent for the next three years. The unions argue it infringes on collective bargaining rights.
-With files from Dave Dentinger