Ontario’s Catholic school teachers in legal strike position Dec. 21

By The Canadian Press and News Staff

A no-board report has been issued in negotiations between the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) and the government of Ontario.

With this development, Ontario’s elementary and secondary Catholic school teachers are in a legal strike position as of Dec. 21.

“As has become abundantly clear this week, Ontarians recognize the Ford government is not listening to their concerns, or treating publicly funded education with the respect it deserves,” OECTA president Liz Stuart said.

“This ‘no-board’ should serve as another wakeup call for Premier Ford and Minister Lecce that it is time to get their act together. Our Association has two days of bargaining scheduled this week, and two more next week. We sincerely hope the government’s negotiating team will come to the table with a mandate to abandon the cuts and reach an agreement.”

Two more days of bargaining have been scheduled for this week.

Lecce said he is disappointed OECTA has taken another step toward job action.

“Parents will have seen these types of practices demonstrated by teacher union leaders throughout a generation,” he said. “I do think it is regrettable this is the path they have chosen.”

“I’ve been clear – I want to get deals that keep the children of this province in school,” the minister said in a statement. “My team is ready to continue meeting to negotiate a deal that puts our students first and provides the predictability parents deserve.”

The OECTA represents 45,000 teachers in Ontario’s publicly funded English Catholic schools – from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

High school teachers are pushing back against government plans to increase class sizes and introduce mandatory e-learning courses. Lecce has said the key issue at that table is compensation, with the government offering a one-per-cent increase a year, but the union seeking around two per cent.

Elementary teachers have also been conducting a work-to-rule campaign, saying their key issues are more supports for students with special needs, addressing violence in schools and preserving full-day kindergarten. They are also seeking higher wage increases than the government’s offer.

The difference between providing teachers and education workers across the major unions with two-per-cent raises instead of one per cent is $750 million over four years, Lecce said. That would be about $188 million a year.

He said that money could build 92 new schools or heat every public school in the province for a year and a half.

But opposition critics said the government has also recently “wasted” $231 million to cancel green energy contracts and $30 million to fight against the federal carbon tax.

“This is a question of priorities, absolutely,” said NDP education critic Marit Stiles. “The government can spend hundreds of millions of dollars cancelling contracts and taking everyone to court…and yet somehow they don’t have the money to invest in education.”

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