TORONTO, Ont. – Wednesday’s round of single-day strikes by the elementary school teachers across the province has more than 48,000 teachers with the Halton, Bluewater, and Algoma school boards staging walkouts.
The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario is expected to announce its next move on Friday. Education minister Laurel Broten said Wednesday there’s still time to work out a deal; however, any strikes after Dec. 31 will be considered illegal.
While Broten remains optimistic that the teachers unions can negotiate a contract by the deadline. If they don’t the government will impose a contract using Bill 115.
“It would always be our choice to see locally negotiated collective agreements but let me very clear, if we do not see negotiated agreements under-put the putting students act we have the ability to put in place collective agreements,” Broten said.
If the government intervenes with a contract, even one-day walkouts would not be legally allowed.
“The case law if very clear, once a collective agreement is in place you are not in a legal strike position and that one day of action would be wild-cat strike action,” Broten explained.
She said that she appreciates the way parents have come together to deal with the strikes.
“Families across the province demonstrated that they’ve come together, that they found a way and it was one day and one day only and certainly I am holding the Elementary Teachers Federation to their word and their promise to communities that it would be one day,” Broten said.
In the fall of 1997, the province reimbursed parents for the extra costs associated with a two-week illegal strike but Broten said that’s not happening this time.
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The teachers union gets heard over and over again – they have an organized message and they just keep hitting repeat hoping we fall for their side of things. Or maybe they think we will give up and give in.
How about the parents and the kids? I can’t seem to find any news outlet that is asking parents and kids anything other than “how did they manage to get through the one day of strike action”, how trivial!
How about publishing comments by kids about what they are missing out on? Let them tell you about their tears and disappointment. Or how parents manage when our kids, like my 7 year old daughter, say things to us like “why are they using us to get what they want?”
These kids are smart, they understand that this is an adult battle and that they are getting used. No rhetoric about democratic rights makes a kid in grade 12 feel any better about not getting extra homework help or not getting a reference letter from a teacher that would help them get into university. These high school kids are only supporting teachers to get their stuff back, the same way they clean their rooms to get video game time. It is ridiculous that teachers see it any other way. The kids don’t have the power, and they are doing what they have to in order to get back what they want. Isn’t that just like being bullied on the playground?
The union should step back and leave our kids out of their fight – stop using our kids to get what you want. Stop bullying families!
Ohh! Won’t somebody PLEEEEEASE think of the CHILDREN !!!
Any strikes after January 1, 2013 illegal – unless it’s the teachers and it’s only for one day. No guts.
Do something about it, Broten. HEY HEY, HO HO, LAUREL BROTEN HAS GOT TO GO! Repeal Bill 115!
I thank god that my child is not old enough to be in school yet. These teachers are absolutely ridiculous. I for one am sick and tired of hearing that Bill 115 is against the “charter of rights and freedoms”. Yes, according to Section 2 Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
(a) freedom of conscience and religion
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
(d) freedom of association.
No where here does it say that you greedy teachers have the rights to collective bargaining!! 20 sick days? If anyone in any other profession tried to take 20 days in a calendar year they would be looking for a new job. Be grateful with 10! You have the summer off! You have March Break off! You have 2 weeks for Christmas and New Years plus every stat holiday. Not to metion PA (or PD) days! You work from about 830 – 330 every day, minus 1 hour for lunch and 1/2 hour total for both recesses. Teachers barely do a good job as it is! That being said, I have had the pleasure of coming in contact with excellent ones, and I thank you, you are so few but are amazing. Taking away childrens extra curricular activities is wrong, you do this in spite and there should be a punishment for that. Team sports, choirs, and social clubs are a great way for young kids to interact with each other and learn to get along and work together. Taking away a sports team/social club from a kid who may not have anything else to look forward to in school is a horrible thing. If the tragedy in Newtown, Conn. has taught us anything, it is that our children are our most precious resource and we need to do everything in our power to better them for the future and prepare them for life. Don’t forget teachers, when you retire many years from now, and you are in your “retirement home” these students may have to care for you, show that you can care for them! Stop depriving these kids, get back to work and be lucky you have a job in the first place.
I find it curious and interesting that Ms. Broten seems to recognize the law when it comes to illegal strikes, but has to create her own law (Bill 115) to get what she wants. Two-faced, to say the least. Go negotiate Broten and learn how to work with unions. They aren’t going away anytime soon.