On Dec. 18 the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FESSO) will be taking job action in the form of a one-day full withdrawal of services after talks between the union and the province have broken off.
The affected school boards are as follows:
- 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
While the union maintains the issues are primarily class sizes, mandatory online courses, and funding cuts, Ontario’s Ministry of Education claims otherwise.
“If there were any question that this wasn’t about salary, those doubts were put to bed when the four teacher unions launched their challenge to legislation that deals with compensation increases for the public service,” Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, said in a statement.
The province has offered a $750 million increase in compensation in response to the union’s $7 billion ask.
“We are calling on OSSTF to cease from continued job action, accept our offer of private mediation, stay at the table, and focus on improving learning in the classroom,” the statement concluded.
OSSTF President Harvey Bischof said on the OSSTF website, “We are hopeful that the Minister is ready to get serious about bargaining… to come to the table in good faith and reverse his government’s devastating cuts to our student’s education system.”
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[T]his government’s cuts to education will affect our students not for just one day, but for generations to come
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The provinces compensation counter-offer comes amid a series of large cuts the education system has seen recently.
“[T]his government’s cuts to education will affect our students not for just one day, but for generations to come,” Bischof stated.
The strikes, however, are putting stress on parents, some of whom may already be struggling with finding daycares or other child care services.
Robin White, a daycare provider and mother of three, supports the OSSTF Unions strike but knows the struggles that some of these parents are going through.
“It can cause a financial strain,” White told The Ontarion.
“When these children aren’t in school the parent has to find a provider so they can go to work, and that adds to the cost of the other child they already have to provide for,” White said.
White also expressed the concern that if the strikes start lasting for more than one day at a time, that could make matters worse for the parents.
“I can handle the strikes one day at a time, but if they start going for longer than that come January… it’s just that many more mouths to feed,” White said.
A spokesperson for the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association told CBC Toronto that negotiations will not begin again until January.
If you’re looking for a child care provider during times of strike, Robin White recommended the Guelph Daycare Connection.