High school teachers to hold another 1-day walkout in Ontario

Public high school teachers will be staging a walkout on Wednesday in eight boards across the province, including Peel Region. It’s the latest in a series of job actions aimed at ramping up pressure on the province during stalled contract talks.

By News Staff and The cANADIAN PRESS

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) has announced plans for another one-day walkout in certain boards, including the Peel District School Board.

The walkout, which is the fourth one held by the union so far, will take place on Jan. 8.

A limited withdrawal of services by education workers represented by OSSTF began on Nov. 26, 2019.

Union president Harvey Bischof said Friday that after more than eight months of talks with Premier Doug Ford’s government little progress has been made on key issues including class size and mandatory e-learning requirements.

“Our job action next Wednesday will affect some school boards for one day, but the Ford government’s policies, if we are not able to reverse them, will continue to create chaos in the education system for years to come,” he said in a statement. “Ontario students deserve better, and that is exactly what we’re fighting for.”

The union, which represents 60,000 teachers and education workers, began one-day walkouts on Dec. 4 with a job action that closed schools across the province. It has followed up with weekly rotating strikes that have closed all secondary schools and some elementary schools at the impacted boards.

Bischof said that the main issues at the table continue to be related to the quality of education, but Education Minister Stephen Lecce has repeatedly said the key sticking point is compensation – with the union demanding a two per cent wage increase.

The province has passed legislation to cap public sector wage increases at one per cent per year over the next three years.

Lecce said he believes parents would want government spending directed towards supporting “student success” and not teacher pay hikes.

“This is why we will continue to vigorously champion the interests of students and seek stability for parents in 2020 who are frustrated and tired of the union-led escalation that began in 2019,” he said in a statement. “This continued strike action is unfair to students and their families.”

The following boards will be affected by the Jan 8. strike are:

Peel District School Board
Algoma District School Board
Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board
Greater Essex County District School Board
Avon Maitland District School Board
District School Board of Niagara
Limestone District School Board
Renfrew County District School Board

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