The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), representing the province’s public English elementary school teachers, has declared that its members have backed a 95 per cent vote in favour of a strike mandate while discussions persist. ETFO president, Karen Brown, revealed in a statement that the compelling verdict sends a potent signal to the government.
Karen Brown emphasized that, having operated over a year without a contract, the patience of her members has depleted. She urged the government to cease its procrastination and approach their key priorities earnestly. Among these priorities are the provision of more assistance for specially-abled students, acknowledgment of the existing staffing crisis in the education sector, the proposal of fair compensation, and addressing violence in schools.
While the strike mandate doesn’t imply inevitable engagement of the ETFO members in work-to-rule strike action or demonstrating on the picket lines, the union now has the liberty to resort to such options if negotiations reach an impasse. Labour negotiations are expected to proceed in the ensuing days and weeks.
The ETFO and the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) initiated strike votes in September, after rejecting the province’s proposition to resolve outstanding issues at the bargaining table through binding arbitration. While the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) is the sole entity among the four primary teachers’ unions that acquiesced to the proposal of the province, close to 80% of the OSSTF members greenlit a deal with the administration to progress contract dialogues until Oct. 27.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce re-echoed his call to the ETFO to accept the arbitration offer from the province. He noted the popular endorsement by 80 per cent of OSSTF members of the province’s plan and expressed hope that a deal with ETFO can be achieved swiftly. Lecce emphasized that the government has presented a deal that ensures undisturbed schooling for high school students for three consecutive years. He remained hopeful that ETFO and other education unions will favour the province’s offer to prevent a strike.
Green Party leader, Mike Schreiner, declared support for potential strike action, blaming the government for the educational crisis. Schreiner applauded the teachers and education workers who endorsed strike action for championing the cause of the children.
ETFO, OECTA, and AEFO, in a joint statement issued in August, affirmed that binding arbitration would not favour the students and would render their primary issues unaddressed. They underscored the apathy of the Ford Conservative government towards engaging in meaningful talks with them, despite several attempts at their respective bargaining tables.
Alternatively, internal government polling suggests a lack of public approval for the notion of a strike action, with 68% of respondents believing that the teachers’ unions should accept binding arbitration to avert a strike. Roughly half of them would blame the teacher unions if a strike occurs, while 34 per cent would hold the province accountable. Over half of the respondents were found to endorse the use of legislation to prevent potential school closures due to teachers’ strikes. Notably, the margin of error could not be established with online polls.
