Elementary teachers strike

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Elementary teachers across the province say they will take some sort of job action starting Monday. This will affect nearly a million students who are in grades 1 through 8 in Ontario and the union is not saying exactly what action teachers will take on Monday.  It looks like it might be work to rule, meaning classes would still be held, but, it could also mean hundreds of thousands of families will suddenly need some other childcare starting Monday.

Ontario’s Education Minister, Liz Sandals says there was nothing she could do to avert a strike by elementary teachers when contract negotiations broke down. “It doesn’t seem to be any one issue in particular, it just seems to be a general desire to have a strike.”

The Elementary Teacher’s Union disagress, “it’s absolutely not true that our goal was to go on strike. Our goal has always been to negotiate a fair collective agreement.” The head of the Elementary Teachers’ Union, Sam Hammond says there were several unacceptable demands from the province, like control over teacher preparation time.

A memo sent to teachers indicates Mondays strike will be work-to-rule, meaning teachers will be in class, but won’t do standardized testing, report cards or professional development, but the union won’t confirm that. The bottom line is parents just have to wait to see what happens and then arrange some sort of childcare if they need to. Some childcare centres have already started waiting lists just in case because they’ve heard from so many parents worried about a strike and are trying to prepare however they can.