THUNDER BAY – Union leaders representing Ontario’s four largest teachers’ associations say they’re hopeful having all four bargaining units walking off the job together across the province will finally send a message to the province that teachers and education workers are unified in their opposition to classroom and program cuts.
The one-day, Ontario-wide strike marked the first time all four unions have struck on the same day during the current round of negotiations, which have stalled as the unions fight to preserve current classroom sizes, an end to a plan for mandatory e-learning courses, the protection of full-day kindergarten and salary increase tied to inflation.
“I think the message that’s being sent is that all four education units are in complete solidarity and our members, 200,000 strong, are not going to stand for the kind of cuts that this government wants to lay in there to destroy the education system,” said Rich Seeley, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation Local 6A, who on Friday morning marched with other union leadership and members in front of the provincial offices on South James Street.
“We all want a deal, that’s the bottom line here.”
Mike Judge, president of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario’s Thunder Bay bargaining unit, said the all-for-one stand makes for an awesome show of togetherness.
“It demonstrates the solidarity of our position and underlines how ridiculous the position is that this Ford government is taking. If it was just one affiliate, you could say it’s a greed issue or something like that,” Judge said. “But when you see all four standing together for the future of education, that’s really a big deal.
“It’s the first time, I think, since 1998 that we’ve seen all four of us out together at the same time.”
Carlo Cappello, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, secondary division, said it’s a disappointing day.
“We’re disappointed that we’re not making progress at the table, that the government continues to have their cuts on the table and they’re insistent on not wanting to remove those cuts, which is why we’re still out here.”
Cappello said he’s hopeful the show of force will send a strong message to Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce.
“I think this is a huge show of unity on the part of all four of our associations. We’re here today because all four of have experienced at the table cuts from Doug Ford and all four of us cannot make progress on removing those cuts,” Cappello said.
“So absolutely we’re hoping Doug will finally see we’re absolutely serious, all four of us are serious, and we want to move forward in removing these cuts from the table.”
Tanya Rail, president of the local bargaining unit for the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens, said she’s concerned that cuts to classrooms will mean less choice for students, which in turn could force parents to choose the English-language system.
Unity is important, she added.
“We decided to take part in this strike date because we have all the same mission. It’s really to show that we all care about students and also it’s showing to the public how important the education system is and that everybody has the same fight,” Rail said.
Lecce said the government is standing strong, adding they’ve made concessions and it’s the unions that won’t give ground.
"Your child should be in class; they should not be the casualty of union-led escalation. The focus of union leaders ought to be on negotiating a deal that keeps students in class. Our government will remain squarely focused on providing stability to students who face escalation by teacher unions far too often throughout their educational journey.
