WHITEWATER REGION — Yesterday, high school and kindergarten teachers as well as support staff went on a one day strike across the province of Ontario. Picket lines were set up all over the province as part of their one-day strike in protest of a lack of movement in contract talks between the union and provincial government.
Rural schools in Ontario, including Opeongo High School (OHS), Cobden and District Public School (CDPS) and Beachburg Public School (BPS), face cuts to specialized student supports, technology, sports and extracurriculars, course options and programs, and community services.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), represents about 60,000 public high school teachers and support workers. The union stated said the government had not put forward any constructive proposals during the negotiation process. Ontario’s public high school teachers have been without a contract since August.
On Tuesday night, Education Minister Stephen Lecce asked the union to call off the strike, saying his bargaining team had presented a new framework to the union in a bid to keep all parties at the table, but did not provide any further details. OSSTF President Harvey Bischof said the teachers had not been given anything new by a mediator, and no progress had been made for days.
“After midnight we have not reached an agreement and so the strike is officially on,” he said. “OSSTF education workers and teachers will be back in schools Thursday. We remain ready to negotiate.”
“We spent four days at the hotel starting Saturday morning to midnight last night. Not a single new proposal. I think we’ve had about a half hour of face-to-face meetings and not one proposal brought forward.”
The teachers and support workers in front of OHS cheered in response every time passing motorists honked their horns in solidarity. Those from CDPS and BPS travelled to OHS and helped form the picket line.
According to the information pamphlet by OSSTF handed out at the OHS picket line, teachers and support workers are standing up for, “class sizes that support learning and do not jeopardize student safety; full access to programming and courses that give students opportunities for their future; specialized professional supports for students with special needs; a safe, equitable, and supportive learning environment for all students; and reasonable and fair compensation that matches the rate of inflation.”
“The entire membership is disappointed and frustrated,” Christian Sell told Whitewater News over the phone yesterday. He is a teacher at Fellowes High school and is the District, Occasional and Teacher Bargaining Unit Vice President for OSSTF District 28 Renfrew. “We hope this strike demonstrates our seriousness to the government … we are fighting for the future of Ontario students.”
The union announced last week teachers could walk off the job in order to turn up the pressure during tense labour negotiations with the government. “Our limited withdrawal will continue,” said Mr. Sell. He stated students will not face the loss of programs, such as extracurriculars, during their work-to-rule. “We are here for the students.”
OSSTF District 28 represents Office Managers, Early Childhood Educators, Teachers and Occasional Teachers working in the Renfrew County District School Board (RCDSB).
— With files from the Government of Ontario and the Canadian Press.
