It's a chilly day to be on strike, but the First Vice President of the union that represents English Catholic school teachers said members are resolved.
Barb Dobrowolski spoke with BlackburnNews.com Tuesday morning during a stop at the picket line outside Catholic Central High School in Windsor. She also planned to make stops in Chatham and London.
In recent days, Premier Doug Ford has told reporters he has heard from teachers who do not support the one-day strikes by teachers' unions, but Dobrowolski did not hear that on the picket line.
Members of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association picket outside of the Ford Engine Plant where Premier Ford was rumoured to be Tuesday, January 21, 2020. (Photo by Maureen Revait)
"We're not doing it for ourselves. We're doing it for students and for the quality of education in Ontario," she said. "People feel pretty good about taking on that fight."
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association and provincial negotiators met Monday at the bargaining table in a bid to resolve the labour dispute. Still, Dobrowolski said they did not get much done.
"We are not close enough yet to reach any deal," she said. "They're pretty intent on cutting funding, reducing spending. It's about what's reasonable. We feel there are a lot of things that they're intending to do that aren't reasonable."
She pointed to the government's proposal to have high school students earn some credits by taking courses online.
"We know that the success level is really low in that model of teaching," added Dobrowolski. "Until they move off some of these positions, it's going to be pretty hard to reach a deal."
Despite the lack of movement, she called the talks "respectful."
"We don't have any new dates yet, but I think that the conciliator sees that there is still reason to talk, and so, I wouldn't be surprised if we got further dates soon," said Dobrowolski.
OECTA represents 23,000 elementary school teachers province-wide, and 13,000 secondary school teachers.
Tuesday's walkout is the second so far for the union, which stepped up its job action last month.