Halton among many school boards facing one-day strike tomorrow

Published December 17, 2019 at 10:30 pm

The battle between the various teachers’ unions across Ontario and the Province wages on with no deal in sight.

The battle between the various teachers’ unions across Ontario and the Province wages on with no deal in sight.

Tomorrow, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) is planning a one-day strike for various school boards across the GTA.

All classes and extra-curricular activities will be canceled tomorrow for the following school boards.

• Lakehead District School Board
• Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board
• Lambton Kent District School Board
• Thames Valley District School Board
• Waterloo Region District School Board
• Waterloo Catholic District School Board
• York Region District School Board
• York Catholic District School Board
• Halton District School Board
• Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board

This latest strike was announced last week and it will be the third walkout for OSSTF teachers this month; the first was province-wide on December 4, then, another walkout took place on December 11 in select areas across the province.

“Since our last bargaining date on Tuesday, December 3, we have seen no change in the Minister of Education’s agenda of increasing class sizes, forcing e-learning on our high school students, and continuing the funding cuts that take valuable support staff and services out of our schools,” OSSTF President Harvey Bischof said in a news release issued December 13.

“We hope that the Ford government is ready to negotiate a fair deal. A deal that is good for students, good for education workers, good for teachers, and good for our province. But if not, we’re ready to fight for their future, and we will use every tool available to us to do so,” Bischof continued.

In response, Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, issued a release today, saying: “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.”

Lecce continued: “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.”

It appears both sides will have some time to come up with new proposals, as it is unlikely the two sides will meet for negotiations again before the new year.

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