Elementary teachers are ramping up job action.
Members of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario will hold rotating strikes once-a-week across the province.
If a contract isn’t reached by the end of the month, instructors will walk off the job in the Keewatin-Patricia School district February 5th and 6th.
Union President Sam Hammond says educators and parents aren’t going to accept the government’s deep cuts to public education that only serve to harm the quality of education for generations to come.
He notes “There is nothing to be gained by Minister Lecce avoiding meaningful and fair contract talks other than further damaging the reputation of the Ford government.”
Hammond says teachers are calling for appropriate funding for special education, a strategy to address classroom violence, maintaining the current Kindergarten program, fair hiring practices, class sizes and compensation that keeps up with inflation.
He adds “I challenge the minister to send his negotiators back to the table to address these issues because in four months of talks from August through December 2019, his (Minister Lecce) had no mandate to discuss them.”
