THUNDER BAY -- Support workers and teachers in the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation braved frigid Northern Ontario temperatures on Wednesday to stage a second one-day walkout in two weeks.
With heaters blasting the Arctic air away behind her, Lori-Anne Frost-Perala, said cold doesn’t matter to union members seeking a new contract – only getting back to the bargaining table.
Talks broke down quickly earlier this week and were ultimately cancelled by the mediator charged with ending the dispute, the two sides too far apart to continue.
Frost-Perala, a support worker with the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board, said there’s plenty at stake.
“For a lot of us, it’s not about wages. It’s about class size. It’s about the students we support on a regular basis, who require us as support staff, to help them understand what they’re learning in the classroom. If you have class sizes that are bigger than people can manage, your children are not getting a complete education,” Frost-Perala said.
Despite the breakdown in negotiations, she said she is holding out hope that a deal can be reached in the very near future.
But talks have to resume first, she noted.
“It is very frustrating. You’re in a position to negotiate, so it’s give and take when you’re negotiating, and if you have one side constantly walking away from the table, demanding another mediator because they’re not happy with the answers they got from the last one, it’s very frustrating,” Frost-Perala said.
“We all want to be at work because we’re there for the kids, we’re there to help them learn, to have a brighter future.”
While money isn’t the top issue for support workers or teachers, the union is trying to convince the province to tie increases to the cost-of-living increase, rather than the one per cent cap offered by the ministry of education.
Fellow support worker, Jennifer Sinfield, said striking union members don’t want to be marching on a picket line, but they feel they have been left with no choice.
“Support staff teachers are being cut, and without us being in the schools, kids can’t learn or even be at school – especially when you have kids that are special needs. They need our support to get their education and the learning,” Sinfield said.
The message to Education Minister Stephen Lecce is a simple one, she added.
“We need to stop cutting our SSPs and our support staff and we need smaller classes so we can manage the kids in every day learning,” Sinfield said.
“It’s really frustrating the nobody wants to talk and nobody wants to negotiate or even show up to the table sometimes.”
Wednesday’s one-day walk-out led to the closure of all Lakehead Public Schools and all Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board schools. Classes are expected to resume as usual on Thursday.
Minister of Education Stephen Lecce on Tuesday said he's looking for union members to come up with viable solutions.
"I am frustrated and disappointed by OSSTF's actions at the negotiating table today. They came forward today with no new proposals, no changes to their position, and no ideas on how to advance negotiations," he said in a statement.
"They continue to focus on further enhancements to their compensation package which, if applied to the sector, would cost approximately $1.5 billion. This focus was demonstrated just last week by their court challenge of legislation that deals with compensation increases for the public service."
