Public high schools and all Catholic schools to be closed in Simcoe and Muskoka on Thursday due teacher strikes

Talks with OSSTF break off, negotiations resume with the union for Catholic teachers

A whirlwind week in the labour dispute between the province’s teachers and the Ford government continues to spin.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation has broken off exploratory talks with the Ford government, while the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association has returned to the bargaining table.

All of this has happened following Education Minister Stephen Lecce’s surprise announcement on Tuesday afternoon that high school class sizes would increase from 22 this year to 23 starting in September, a drop from the original proposal of 28, and e-learning courses would have an opt-out rather than be mandatory.

“Yesterday, I put forward reasonable proposals with the sole focus of reaching a deal that was fair to students, parents, and our teachers and education workers,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce said in a statement Wednesday. “OSSTF’s decision to walk away from lower class sizes and giving parents a choice regarding online learning suggests they do not want to reach a deal with our government.”

The union for public high school teachers acknowledges the needle was moved by Lecce’s announcement, but OSSTF President Harvey Bischof said talks broke off because the government showed no flexibility from its bottom line.

The union for public high school teachers is going ahead with Thursday’s one-day rotating strike at targeted school boards including the Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB), the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board (SMCDSB) and Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB).

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association is holding a one-day province-wide strike on Thursday, as are teachers in the French system.

Barrie-Innisfil MPP Andrea Khanjin said the labour dispute is most certainly about compensation.

She said a proposal from OSSTF would increase benefit costs to six per cent and would cost the entire province about $600 million.

Khanjin said the government is drawing a hard line when it comes to compensation and hiring practices.

“The government is keen on allowing for merit-based hiring and wants to get rid of the days when younger teachers are stuck in a supply role for years.”

Rather than seniority-based hiring practices for teachers, Khanjin said the PC’s want to change that so younger teachers will have a hand-up and more equal like any sector, adding it will be based on merit and not seniority.

0 Shares
Tweet
Share
Share
Pin