THUNDER BAY – Classroom learning across Ontario will grind to a halt next Friday.
About 200,000 teachers and education workers with the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers’ Federation, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association and the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens will stage a unified one-day strike on Feb. 21.
It will mark the first time in 23 years that all four unions have marched out of the classroom together in a unified call to the Ontario government to get back to the bargaining table.
“It is clear to all four Ontario education unions and our members that the Ford government and Education Minister (Stephen) Lecce care nothing about students or educators and everything about taking money out of the publicly funded education system,” says AEFO President Rémi Sabourin in a release issued on Wednesday.
"To achieve their cuts, they have knowingly thrown students, families, educators and the system into chaos.”
OECTA president Liz Stuart said the effects of the government’s cuts are already being felt at schools across the province.
“The Ford government is reducing supports for students with special education needs and mental health issues. It is squeezing students into overcrowded classes and forcing high school students to take e-learning courses. If we allow the government to implement its plan fully, thousands of teaching positions and tens of thousands of course options will be lost,” Stuart said.
The various unions are fighting to keep class sizes at current student-to-teacher ratios, continued support for special needs students, the retention of full-day kindergarten and salary increases tied to the cost-of-living.
Teachers and education workers are also fighting to ensure seniority-based hiring remains in place.
“It is now evident that the Ford government’s agenda is entirely ideological and not at all concerned with providing quality education,” said OSSTF president Harvey Bischof.
“They are pulling resources out of the public education system and, with schemes like mandatory e-learning, laying the groundwork for private interests to profit from our students’ education. We are heartened that so many parents are standing with us against the dismantling of Ontario’s public education system.”
All four unions have walked off the job at least once over the past few weeks, the AEFO the last to hit the picket lines.
Lecce’s recent statement on province-wide union escalation was issued last Friday.
"Continued escalation of job action by the teachers' unions has gone on far too long. Students across the province are being hurt by the withdrawal of services and loss of classroom time,” the education minister said.
“Parents expect all parties to meet at the negotiating table and have meaningful, student-centric discussions. I call on union leadership to continue to work with us, in good-faith, to end these strikes, and focus on reaching a deal that keeps our students in the classroom where they belong."
ETFO members will be off the job locally on Thursday.
