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Elementary teachers across Ontario will now be striking more regularly after contract talks with the province ended in a stalemate.
The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) had a union-imposed deadline to reach an agreement with the province by the end of Friday. A deal was not struck. Elementary teachers will now continue their rotating strikes, with a province-wide walkout slated for Feb. 6.
This job action will be alongside the continuing rotating strikes for high school teachers. Ontario secondary school teachers did not strike during high school exams. The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) will be running its second province-wide withdrawal of services on Feb. 4.
ETFO is #RedforEd and standing firm to tell the Ford govt we can not accept education cuts.
We seek removal of cuts, increase supports for students with special needs, to preserve Kindergarten and maintain fair transparent hiring – this is why there’s an #ETFOstrike. #onpoli pic.twitter.com/mLhn9ZD8MX
— Elementary Educators (@ETFOeducators) January 31, 2020
School closures in London this week:
- Tuesday, Feb. 4th: TVDSB elementary schools, Catholic elementary and high schools will be closed (province-wide)
- Thursday, Feb. 6th: Elementary schools will be closed as part of a province-wide strike
Teachers are still fighting the province’s decision to increase class sizes along with mandating four compulsory online courses. All teachers are negotiating to get a 2 percent cost-of-living annual increase reestablished after the province cut it to one percent over the next three years.
