Peel, Durham & Rainbow boards to file application to declare teachers strikes unlawful

The Peel District School Board has announced it will be filing a joint application to the Ontario Labour Relations Board with Durham and Rainbow district school boards, contending that the local Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) strikes in their districts are unlawful.

“”We’re calling on the OLRB to rule that the secondary teachers’ union waged an unlawful strike to put pressure on the provincial negotiations,” Janet McDougald, chair of the Peel board, said in a statement Tuesday.

“This ruling would return Peel, Durham and Rainbow students to their classrooms, where we know they can finish off the school year positively, without further disruption.”

The three boards said they believe the purpose of the strikes are to put pressure on negotiations with the province, which they said “is not permissible under new bargaining legislation.”

“As a board, we remain 100 per cent committed to fair negotiations with our unions and federations and are hopeful that we will reach mutually agreeable local settlements, on local matters,” Janet McDougald, chair of the Peel board, said in a statement Tuesday. “This provincially directed local action by OSSTF doesn’t move us forward, and we look to the OLRB to put a swift end to this unlawful strike.”

Public high school teachers in Peel joined their counterparts in Durham and Sudbury on the picket line last week after they were unable to reach a collective agreement with their board over the weekend.

Teachers in Rainbow (Sudbury) walked off the job two weeks while Durham teachers are in the fourth week of their strike.

Click here to read the complete statement by the Peel board.

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