Ontario Elementary Teachers Set to Vote on Potential Strike in November

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) announced that its 84,000 members will hold an online vote in November to decide whether to authorize a strike. The union said the voting period will run for ten days in the month. The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) has also scheduled a similar vote for the same month. The other major teachers’ unions in the province have not yet confirmed vote dates.

CP24

Ontario’s public-school contracts expired at the end of August, and negotiations for a new agreement stalled before they began in earnest. The parties remain divided over which issues should be negotiated centrally by the province and which should stay at the local level, a question now awaiting a ruling from the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB). The unions have criticized the provincial government’s push to centralize bargaining on items such as staffing timelines, surplus and redundancy policies, and local professional-development funding, arguing that it would erode local autonomy. The education ministry noted that the unions’ referral to the OLRB has delayed the start of formal bargaining.

CBC News

Emma Testani, spokesperson for Education Minister Paul Calandra, said the ministry respects the unions’ right to seek an OLRB ruling but emphasized that the process has postponed bargaining. She added that the ministry intends to begin negotiations once the board’s decision is final. Testani also warned that “premature strike threats do not serve the interests of students and do nothing but create unnecessary panic for parents,” and urged both sides to focus on reaching a deal that keeps classrooms in session.

CBC News

• “Premature strike threats do not serve the interests of students and do nothing but create unnecessary panic for parents,” — Emma Testani, a spokesperson for Education Minister Paul Calandra

CBC News