Update: Protest action has been called off for today. Sorry, kids. School is officially back on!
Ontario’s elementary teachers are at it again. On Friday, they will hold another one-day protest, which will result in schools all over the province closing their doors.
According to an article in the Globe and Mail, 76,000 teachers will boycott the classroom on Friday in connection with Bill 115, the very legislation that restricts teachers' right to strike. In the run up to the holidays, elementary teachers staged a day-long walkout.
“The [education] minister made a deliberate and provocative choice to wipe out the democratic rights of tens of thousands of educators rather than work towards a respectful solution,” said president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, Sam Hammond. “She could have taken our olive branch and waited for a new leader to try and find solutions, but she chose not to.”
Under the terms of the new two-year contract imposed last week, striking teachers will see their wages frozen and their sick days axed. Teachers were advised by union officials not to participate in extracurriculars, such as sports teams and clubs, for the duration of the government-sanctioned contract. That's 2014.
While The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation decides what next steps to take, children across Ontario will undoubtedly suffer.
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