The union that represents Ontario's 83,000 public elementary school teachers, occasional teachers, and education professionals will announce on Monday how it will escalate its job action against the provincial government.
The Elementary Teachers Federation refuted a claim by Education Minister Stephen Lecce that he has offered to meet with teachers unions.
"The government has not initiated any contract talks with ETFO," said President Sam Hammond. "We will do what it takes to stop the Minister's rhetoric and get his negotiating team to come back to the table with proposals that will result in a fair deal."
On Thursday, Lecce released a statement saying, "I have offered all teachers' union federations a fair and reasonable plan, which should pave the way to reaching a good deal that keeps students in class. The government has consistently made reasonable moves -- effectively freezing classroom sizes, a parental opt-out for online learning, a commitment to full-day kindergarten, and 100 per cent investment in special education."
Earlier in the week, the Ford government made some concessions on class sizes and e-learning in an attempt to end labour disputes with teachers’ unions. Lecce said that the government will continue to fund secondary school classrooms at an average of 23 students. Last March, the government announced it would increase average high school class sizes from 22 to 28. On Tuesday, Lecce also announced that parents could opt their children out of mandatory e-learning in high school.
"It's key that the public understands what is really at stake for public education in these contract talks," continued Hammond. "We're asking our members to arrange meetings with school trustees, address school councils, and leaflet homes in their communities after hours to inform people of the issues."
The union has told its members to continue pickets outside of their schools and has invited parents to join them. Parents are also invited to make phone calls to Conservative MPPs to discuss the impact of proposed government cuts to education. They are also being asked to address misinformation on social media.
Monday's announcement will include an additional component of Phase 7 strike action, which will start March 23.
On Thursday, members of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association and French Language teachers represented by AEFO held another one-day province-wide strike.
