THUNDER BAY – Teachers and education workers at the Rainy River District School Board plan to walk off the job for a day on Tuesday.
The Ontario Federation of Secondary School Teachers’ Federation on Wednesday announced the one-day withdrawal of service, part of an ongoing battle with the province to solve their contract dispute.
Affected boards include:
- Rainy River District School Board
- Near North District School Board
- Grand Erie District School Board
- Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board
- Toronto District School Board • Simcoe County District School Board
- Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board
- Trillium Lakelands District School Board
- Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board
Members employed at the Conseil scholaire catholique MonAvenir, Conseil scolaire Viamonde, Conseile scolaire des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario and the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est will also be off the job for the day.
Starting on Monday, the union will ratchet up its withdrawal of services. Teachers and occasional teachers will no longer perform on-calls and will not fill in for an absent member of the bargaining unit, with the exception of education assistants caring for reassigned students with special needs.
Members will not perform the work of any other bargaining unit, nor will they assume responsibility for verifying or finding replacements for absent union members.
Union president Harvey Bischof said in a release that Tuesday’s walkout will be the final one before secondary school exams are completed.
“Throughout this dispute we have made every effort to ensure that our job actions create minimal disruption for students,” Bischof said.
“With that objective in mind, OSSTF/FEESO members will not engage in any work disruptions through the crucial exam period.”
OSSTF leadership has promised to call off the job action if the province agrees to return to and maintain class size ratios and staffing levels in place during the 2018-19 school year.
“If the minister of education is truly focused, as he incessantly claims, on keeping kids in class, then he will accept our offer and come back to the bargaining table to negotiate in good faith,” Bischof said.
“But the evidence is mounting that this government’s priorities have nothing to do with the well-being of students. The Doug Ford secret plan for e-learning implementation, which came to light this week, reveals a government whose obsessions are exclusively fiscal.”
The strike will tie in with province-wide plans by the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association to walk off the job on Tuesday.
Elementary school teachers in Toronto, York and Ottawa will hold a one-day strike on Monday. Finally, the Ontario French language school board plans to start withdrawing some services on Thursday.
Minister of Education Stephen Lecce on Wednesday announced the province would offer parents up to $60 per day if strike actions close schools or school-based child-care centres.
"Our aim has always been to reach a negotiated settlement that keeps kids in class, which we have done successfully with multiple labour partners to date," Lecce said in a release.
"We recognize the impact of union escalation on families is real, and unions expect hard-working families to bear the costs of their cyclical labour action.
“While unions impose hardship on families and students, our government is taking proactive steps to ensure students remain cared for — and families supported — in the event that unions decide to further escalate job action in their fight for enhanced compensation and other demands. The contrast could not be clearer."
The unions say they are fighting to maintain smaller class sizes and to eliminate the requirement for online course credits. They’re also looking to keep wage increases in line with inflation.
