Ontario Catholic teachers move closer to possible mid-August strike
Posted July 9, 2015 2:16 pm.
Last Updated July 9, 2015 2:17 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) has placed itself in a legal strike position by mid-August.
The union said mediation and conciliation efforts have been unsuccessful and it has requested a “no board” report.
The teachers can legally walk off the job 17 days after a no board report is issued.
“It won’t be business as usual in September because teachers will be on job action,” OECTA president Ann Hawkins told CityNews on Thursday.
Hawkins said the union wouldn’t start with full-on strike, but would give at least five days’ notice.
She said talks broke off on Wednesday afternoon after bargaining for 14 days. The key issue at the bargaining table is workload, but salaries and class sizes haven’t not come up yet.
“We are extremely disappointed,” Hawkins said in a release.
“Our members are standing up for what’s right for the education system, principles the employer does not seem to be taking seriously.”
In April, union members voted in favour of a strike mandate, and the Ministry of Labour appointed a mediator. On June 24, the union filed for conciliation hoping “it would provide the impetus necessary for meaningful negotiations to continue.”
OECTA represents 50,000 English Catholic teachers in all grades.
More than 70,000 public high school students were out of school for weeks this spring because of strikes at the Peel, Durham and Sudbury school boards, eventually ended by the Ontario Labour Relations Board and back-to-work legislation.
With files from Cynthia Mulligan and Charlene Close
