Photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / tomwang. Photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / tomwang.
London

One-day strike set for Wednesday

Elementary students at public schools in the London area will get a day off next week if their teachers don't get a new contract.

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario has given the required five days notice for a work stoppage by elementary teachers in the Thames Valley School Board. The one day strike will happen on Wednesday, January 22.

“In the 28 days since our last bargaining session on December 19, 2019, the Ford government and Minister Lecce have had ample time to return to contract talks with ETFO and they have chosen not to do so,” said ETFO President Sam Hammond. “We have no choice but to commence rotating strikes starting this Monday as our only means of forcing the government to get serious about negotiations and the future of public education.”

One-day strikes are scheduled for Monday in Toronto, York Region and Ottawa-Carleton. ETFO members in Grand Erie, Trillium Lakelands, Renfrew and Superior-Greenstone will take part in a one-day strike on Tuesday.

In an email to parents, the Thames Valley District School Board said all elementary schools will be closed for the day if the strike goes ahead on Wednesday.

In a vote held in November, 98 per cent of ETFO members gave their union a strike mandate. The union announced on January 8 that it would begin rotating strikes if the government did not address what it called "critical issues" in negotiations. As part of their work to rule campaign, public elementary teachers are not supervising extracurricular activities or field trips, they are arriving to work any earlier than 30 minutes before classes start and leaving within 15 minutes of the end of class.

“We are urging the Minister to get back to the table and discuss the critical issues that parents and educators care about,” Hammond added.

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