THUNDER BAY – Talks have broken down betwen the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario and the province, meaning escalating job action will begin on Monday.
In Thunder Bay, Lakehead Public School teachers will walk off the job on Wednesday as part of the union's series of rotating strikes.
A province-wide strike is scheduled for Thursday, meaning classrooms will be closed for two straight days if a deal isn't reached in the interim.
Union officials, in a release issued on Friday night, said talks broke down late in the day, after three days of negotiations.
“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,” said ETFO president Sam Hammond.
“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.”
Hammond went on to say his membership, which numbers about 83,000 acorss the province, remain committed to further job action in order to get a deal done.
"Our members have made it very clear that they are committed to protecting public education, and they expect to see a bargaining outcome at the central table that supports the learning needs of their students. Agreeing to accept cuts to the funding that elementary students have had in previous years, and that they desperately need now, is not something that ETFO will consider," Hammond said.
“The minister claims that he is there for students. If that’s the case, then he should have no issue instructing his bargaining team to make investments in the priority funding and special education funding currently on the table.”
Elementary teachers walked off the job Ontario-wide on Jan. 23. They're fighting for safety in the classroom, the retention of full-day kindergarten and a wage increase in line with inflation.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce, meanwhile, continues to urge parents to sign up for funding of between $25 and $60 a day to cover daycare costs incurred by strike action. About 275,000 parents have signed up so far.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association is staging a one-day, province-wide strike on Tuesday and will be joined on the picket line locally by members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation.
