High school teachers won’t strike, but will cease all volunteer duties

High school teachers across Ontario won’t strike, but will stop all extra-curricular and volunteer activities by December 10, the union representing 60,000 teachers and support staff said Monday.

York Region teachers will begin the increased job action on Thursday.

The boycott means all after-school programs and high school sports that aren’t part of the curriculum would be affected.

“Our members will be in the classroom every day, fulfilling their duties with regards to the development of curriculum, the delivery of curriculum, and making sure that the students are safe,”  Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) President Ken Coran said Monday.

Some high school teachers have already begun voluntary removal of some administrative service, but Coran said the “dial has been turned up a notch,” in an ongoing labour dispute with the province over Bill 115.

Under the new guidelines, he said teachers would report to school 15 minutes before their scheduled duties, and leave immediately after the final bell rang.

Elementary and secondary school teachers across the province have been protesting Bill 115, also called the Putting Students First Act, which imposed a two-year contract on educators that includes a wage freeze, reduced sick days and bans on strikes and lockouts.

Earlier this week, President of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), Sam Hammond, said teachers were prepared to hit the picket lines starting in December. According to reports, teachers are currently voting on staging rolling, one-day walkouts.

Hammond said parents would be given 72 hours notice before any strikes.

Coran said secondary teachers “will not be participating in any of these rotating strikes,” but could be staging political protests, pending the results of a member vote in mid-December.

The protests would aim to educate the public on Bill 115, which he argued isn’t a “wage freeze” bill, but one that erodes democracy and the ability to negotiate.

“We are prepared and we were prepared and we are still prepared to accept a wage freeze,” Coran said.

“The problem that has arisen is that Bill 115 has demanded much more of our members and has in fact eroded the democratic rights of all Ontarians and our members are just not prepared to stand by and watch that happen.”

Coran said Education Minister Laurel Broten could intervene on the latest job action plan using Bill 115.

“If she does…we will comply with her direction to go back to work (but) in fact we are not leaving our contractual duties to deliver curriculum.”