Elementary and secondary teachers as well as education workers represented by the four major education unions in Ontario were out of the classrooms and onto the streets Friday to protest the provincial government’s cuts.
Today's one-day strike included Members of the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO), the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF).
Teachers and educational assistants (EAs) from Barrie schools marched up and down Bayfield Street in a show of solidarity, with estimates being around 3,000 protesters.
It marked the first time since 1997 where all schools across the four boards co-ordinating strike action on the same day.
Rita Golds-Nikolic, a bargaining union president for EA's who was taking part in the march, told BarrieToday why hundreds of people were out braving the cold on Friday.
“We are here today to encourage (Premier Doug) Ford to come back to the table,” she said. “I can tell you that we’d much rather be in our classrooms, but we are here to support our health and safety, we’re here to protect classrooms, we’re here to defend our students, and to protect our jobs.”
On Thursday, Education Minister Stephen Lecce issued a statement about the impending provincewide strikes and reaffirmed the government's stance to work out a deal.
"Your child should be in class; they should not be the casualty of union-led escalation," Lecce said. "The focus of union leaders ought to be on negotiating a deal that keeps students in class.
"Our government will remain squarely focused on providing stability to students who face escalation by teacher unions far too often throughout their educational journey," he added.
Golds-Nikolic, a member of the OSSTF, said they've not been back to the bargaining table since before Christmas.
The first job action took place Nov. 26, 2019, and has been on weekly rotating strikes with different boards ever since.
“As educational assistants, we work specifically with students with special needs," Golds-Nikolic said. “We already are not meeting the needs of students and are exposed to volatile and aggressive students. There is no guarantee that, at the end of our work day, we will go home unscathed.
"Cuts will only make matters worse," she added.
Stayner Collegiate Institute teacher Shawn Gibson (not to be confused with his reporter of the same name) said Bayfield Street was chosen for its high visibility and lots of people to get the message out to.
“This is a great way to reach a mass amount of people at one time (and) let as many people know what we are fighting for,” Gibson said.
Although rotating strikes began in November, today’s job action was designed to be a ramped-up event with all the province’s schools being shut down.
Neither Gibson nor Golds-Nikolic could say for sure what the next step would be as far as job action, but Gibson did say what he'd like to see next.
“Ideally, the next step we would like to see would be to meet with the government and negotiate a contract that doesn’t destroy public education,” he said.
