Teachers with the Thames Valley District School Board will vote this week on whether or not to give their union a mandate to strike if necessary.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), which represents elementary school teachers across the province, has requested that teachers in the Thames Valley District participate in a strike vote on Thursday. The request comes after contract talks recently stalled between the union and the provincial government.
"Members will be asked to demonstrate their support for ETFO bargaining priorities that include more support for students with special needs, class size and class structure, the protection of Full-Day Kindergarten and fair and transparent hiring practices," ETFO President Sam Hammond said in a statement. "Holding a central strike vote is one part of the legal bargaining process under Ontario labour laws."
In September and October, the ETFO has been holding mass meetings with all of its 83,000 members to discuss central bargaining issues. A number of strike votes have already been held across the province, including in the Greater Essex Region and Lambton Kent.
"ETFO’s goal is to reach an agreement at the central bargaining table without having to take job action," said Hammond. "[The union] is committed to continuing negotiations at the bargaining table until a fair and reasonable collective agreement can be reached for public elementary educators in Ontario."
The strike vote will be held on Thursday at Budweiser Gardens in London starting at 6:30 p.m. The members will attend a union meeting prior to the vote at 5:30 p.m.
Around 55,000 education support workers in Ontario, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, reached a tentative agreement with the province earlier this month to avoid a strike. A strike would have resulted in the cancellation of classes, along with all recreational and after-school programs.
