Teacher work-to-rule campaign intensifies

THUNDER BAY – The local president of the union representing Ontario public school elementary teachers is accusing the minister of education of attempting to “mislead the public.”

That was the response from Mike Judge when asked on Monday whether the provincial government and the Ontario Public School Board Association were taking teachers’ work-to-rule measures seriously.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario increased their work-to-rule campaign on Monday, which Judge said was a direct result of lack of progress in recent talks.

“Even at the request of the mediator to return to the table, which we did, all they came back with was this ridiculous list that’s a non-starter and they know it,” he said.

“Teachers want to bargain and (Education Minister Liz Sandals) knows full well what she’s doing and it’s a deliberate attempt to mislead the public. I think she needs to get her head on straight about this. This is serious business and parents deserve better, students deserve better and teachers deserve better.”

The new withdrawals, which include participating in planning and transitions for the next school year, as well as after-hours staff meetings and other Ministry meetings, workshops and mandated meetings with principals are the next step after the first work-to-rule steps were implemented last month.

“None of us want to be in this position and we certainly don’t want to have the students caught in the middle. We want to get to the table and we want to negotiate a fair contract. We want the government to get serious,” local ETFO president Mike Judge said.

“This is a plea for them to get to the table and to come with an intent to get a serious agreement, not a giant list of strips. Let’s get this done.”

The work-to-rule has not resulted in any school closures and extracurricular activities, including field trips, have continued as scheduled.

“Any withdrawals of services are specifically targeted to affect administration and Ministry initiatives only,” Judge said. “It’s still business as usual for our students and they should be unaffected within their regular programming.”

Public elementary teachers have been without a contract for nine months.