Peel teachers strike

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A third Ontario high school board went on strike today. Teachers in Peel region started picketing this morning and their       42 000 students are worried about what could happen to the rest of their school year.

Peel teachers join Durham region and Sudbury area teachers on strike, so about 70 000 teens are not in school today. Teachers in Ontario make between $45 000 and $95 000 a year but these boards are not negotiating big issues like wages and class sizes, that’s being done at the provincial level for the first time this year. The chair of the school board in Peel thinks the local strikes are a ploy to make gains in the central, province-wide bargaining.

Teachers crowded in front of the Peel school board offices in Mississauga, wearing strike signs and waving at honking cars. “The working conditions of our members become the learning conditions of students. Anything you can do to improve teachers working conditions will improve the outcome for students.” Says Union member Mike Bettiol

The head of the school board thinks the union is being irresponsible and should be ashamed. “There’s nothing, nothing on this table right now in Peel that would justify a strike.” Says Janet McDougald from the Peel School Board.

In a statement on the Peel board website, McDougald says the board has been beseiged by parents and students worried about final exams and end of year plays, athletics, and the prom. She says this strike is unfair, particularly this time of year.