Teachers Head Back To The Picket Lines Today

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Tuesday, 4 February 2020 07:54

Teachers and support staff at W.C.I on the picket lines at a previous strike in Woodstock. (2020)

All Elementary and Secondary Schools in Oxford County will be closed to students today. The ETFO and OSSTF are staging rotating one-day strikes and that includes Thames Valley.

OXFORD COUNTY - Downtown Woodstock will be packed with teachers today as all schools are closed to students.

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario and Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation are staging rotating one-day strikes and that includes Thames Valley. Meanwhile English Catholic teachers, both Elementary and Secondary are staging a province wide strike today as well. This means all public and Catholic schools in the region are closed to students. The ETFO will be staging another province wide strike on Thursday.

Talks with the Province completely broke down late Friday night.

ETFO President Sam Hammond says neither side were able to come to an agreement.

"ETFO made every effort over the past three days to move negotiations forward but it became increasingly clear that the Ford government was not willing to address key issues in any meaningful way. For example, the government wants to reduce funding to support the learning needs of special education students, and it wants ETFO to agree to those cuts at the bargaining table. We can't do that. The government is unwilling to make any significant efforts to address the problem of classroom violence, or to support the integration of students with diverse learning needs."

School boards and the province are also trying to end a long-standing, fair, transparent and equal hiring process for teachers under Regulation 274/12.

"The government’s own study has shown that the fairness Regulation 274 brings to the teacher hiring process is consistent with diversity objectives in employment. ETFO is concerned this move, which is an attempt to reintroduce teacher hiring based on nepotism and favouritism, will destroy the principles of diversity and equity in hiring."

Minister of Education Stephen Lecce issued a statement regarding the latest update of bargaining with the ETFO.

"Over the past few days, the Government has further demonstrated our focus on keeping kids in class through a voluntary agreement. As part of that commitment, and to further underscore my public statements, we have affirmed in writing that we will be maintaining Ontario's world-class kindergarten program.

I have long said that compensation, pay, and benefits, remain a top priority for teachers' union leaders, and that remains true today. Even following our formal commitment to one of their publicly-stated priorities, ETFO leadership continues to advance compensation for their members over the protection of the education system for our youngest learners.

The Government has continued to signal reasonableness on issues from special education supports to efforts to counter violence in schools. Yet, the teachers' union leadership push for compensation that comes with a substantial cost to the taxpayer.

While the mediator has called off discussions for now, the Government stands ready to meet at any time, to reach a deal that keeps students in class."