NEWS RELEASE
ELEMENTARY TEACHERS' FEDERATION OF ONTARIO
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The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario is set to enter week two of rotating strikes, having sent the five-day required strike notice for Simcoe (County), Waterloo, Keewatin-Patricia and Penetanguishene Protestant Separate school boards for Monday, Jan. 27.
“ETFO is very disappointed that Ford’s Education Minister Lecce has not come back to the bargaining table to negotiate key issues affecting students, student learning and educators,” said ETFO president Sam Hammond. “It is now 34 days since ETFO’s last bargaining session on Dec. 19, 2019.
“I am concerned at the amount of disinformation that Minister Lecce is saying to the public through the media and social media. Either he is misinformed about what has taken place during contract talks or he is purposefully sharing inaccurate information to cover up the continuing cuts he wants to make to public education.”
“His negotiators have no mandate nor have they returned to talks to discuss ETFO’s revised proposals tabled on December 19 concerning more supports to students with special needs or solutions to address violence in schools.”
“There has been very little discussion about educator wages despite Minister Lecce’s pronouncements that our strike action is about money.”
“Ask any ETFO educator and they will tell you that lack of supports for children with special needs, large class sizes and the violent incidents occurring in classrooms due to lack of supports for students with unique learning needs are the reasons they are willing to go on strike,” added Hammond.
“These were the bargaining priorities that our members asked ETFO to pursue in a province-wide survey sent to them last year.”
ETFO represents 83,000 elementary public school teachers, occasional teachers and education professionals across the province.
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