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Violence Against Teachers One Issue In Dispute

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Teachers across Ontario are on the picket line today (Friday) as they ramp up pressure on the government for a new contract.

Monica Armour is a regional spokesperson with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and she says one of the issues at their level is getting the government to address rising violence rates in the classroom.

She notes staff are being bitten, hit or scratched on a regular basis.

Armour says they are asking the government to come up with solutions that help both educational workers and the students.

Mandatory e-learning and class sizes are other contentious issues in the on-going labour dispute at all levels.

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Government Response To Day Of Action

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Teachers across Ontario are on the picket line today. (Friday)

This is the first time all four teachers unions have taken such action in 20 years.

The opposition believes parents are not on the government’s side in the dispute.

Ford disagrees with that assessment.

“We believe that parents want us to increase investment into the schools and into our children that go there. What they do not, and I’ve heard right across this province, believe in increasing compensation.”

Responding to a question from the NDP, premier Doug Ford says contrary to popular opinion, they have increased the budget for education.

Ford adds his government has increased the education budget by $1.2-billion.

Opposition leader Andrea Horwath says the Premier has his head in the sand and pretends that parents are on his side while the government makes cuts to education.

She accuses Doug Ford of ignoring parents.

Horwath notes parents in this province are telling the government they don’t want e-learning and want smaller class sizes.

 

 

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Classrooms Empty All Day Today

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All local schools will be in the dark Friday as teachers unions hold their largest demonstration in the on-going labour dispute with the province.

The four major teachers unions are holding a one-day Ontario-wide walkout.

Over two million students will be out of the classroom.

As a result local school bus transportation has been cancelled and the high school ‘AA’ court playoffs have been re-scheduled for Monday in Fort Frances.

Classes will resume on Monday, except for Catholic schools in Dryden, Sioux Lookout and Fort Frances.

Teachers with the Northwest Catholic District School Board are holding a one-day walkout as part of rotating strikes next week.

 

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Catholic Teachers Plan Strikes Next Week

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The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association has announced it will be doing rotating walk-outs starting next week.

In northwestern Ontario, strike action is being taken on Monday by the Northwest Catholic District School Board, impacting schools in Dryden, Sioux Lookout and the Fort Frances area.

Catholic schools in Red Lake, Kenora and Thunder Bay will be closed next Tuesday.

This follows a one-day walkout by all teachers unions on Friday.

The OECTA says it does have negotiations planned for Wednesday with provincial representatives and the Catholic Trustees Association.

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Elementary/French Language Schools Closed

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Several schools will be dark today (Thursday) as teachers continue to lobby for a new contract.

Elementary schools will be closed across the entire Keewatin-Patricia School District as instructors conduct another one-day strike.

Childcare and EarlyON centres will remain open but before and after school programming will not be operating.

French language teachers are also walking off the job today, meaning classes have been cancelled in Dryden, Red Lake and Ignace. (Ecole catholique de l’Enfant-Jesus Dryden, Ecole catholique des Etoiles-du-Nord Red Lake and Ecole Immaculee-Conception Ignace)

All high schools remain open and buses will be running for those institutions.

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French Schools To Strike Next Week

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More strike action is planned next week, this time with the union representing Ontario’s French-language teachers.

A one day closure will be taking place at participating French schools on Thursday the 13th.

This includes École catholique de l’Enfant-Jésus in Dryden, École catholique des Étoiles-du-Nord in Red Lake and École Immaculée-Conception in Ignace.

The union, the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO), says parents are urged to make alternate arrangements for child care.

The AEFO also says one-day strikes will occur weekly.

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Local Schools Closed Again

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Elementary schools operated by the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board are closed Thursday for a second straight day.

Wednesday, members represented by the Elementary Teachers Federation Of Ontario were out as part of the rotating strikes the union is carrying out.

Thursday, EFTO has called for a province-wide walkout.

Meanwhile, there will be two more days of strikes locally for elementary teachers next week.

ETFO announced it will be walking out at the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board next Tuesday and Thursday, February 11th and 13th, if a new deal isn’t reached before then.

Thursday’s job action impacts public school students in kindergarten through grade eight, but not those in grades nine through 12.

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Catholic Teachers Planning One-Day Strike

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Catholic schools across the province will be closed next Tuesday as part of on-going job action against the Ford government.

This is the second round of walk-out’s launched by the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association.

Teachers held their first one-day strike last week.

A number of issues remain unresolved in stalled contract talks.

They include a cut to hiring, the elimination of certain positions at schools and mandatory e-learning.

 

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Local Elementary Schools Closed Monday

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Elementary schools will be closed on Monday across the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board.

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario one-day strikes will hit our communities on January 27th.

High Schools will remain open and exams will take place as scheduled at all Secondary schools.

The rotating strikes are impacting all elementary schools in Thunder Bay today.

The union says it’s now 34 days since their last bargaining session on December 19, 2019.

ETFO President Sam Hammond says they are taking this action because they are disappointed that Education Minister Stephen Lecce has not come back to the bargaining table to negotiate key issues.

Hammond says government negotiators haven’t responded to ETFO’s proposals on supports for students with special needs or addressing violence in schools.

Lecce has framed compensation as the sticking point in negotiations with all of the major teachers’ unions, but Hammond says that has barely been discussed at the bargaining table.

Other key issues include larger class sizes and mandatory online courses.

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Catholic Teachers Hold One Day Strike

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There’s no class today (Tuesday) at all English Catholic schools in northwestern Ontario.

A province-wide, one-day walkout by the union representing its elementary, secondary, and occasional teachers is being held.

The Northwest Catholic District School Board and the Kenora Catholic Board are among those impacted.

Bus service will still take place for students attending public elementary and high schools.

Childcare programs in the schools will continue to operate, but before and after-school programming has been cancelled.

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