Collingwood’s elementary teachers marched in picket lines today for the first time since the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) announced a series of one-day strikes.
All Simcoe County District School Board elementary schools were closed today (Jan. 27) for the one-day strike.
Teachers from Connaught, Admiral, and Nottawa public schools marched in front of MPP Jim Wilson’s office today, and others walked the sidewalk in front of Mountain View Elementary School. Teachers were also striking in front of Cameron Street Public School.
At each location, teachers were joined by designated early childhood educators.
Jason Durance, the political action chair for the Simcoe County Elementary Teachers’ Executive, is a Grade 7/8 teacher at Nottawa Elementary School.
He said the issues of class sizes, full-day kindergarten, and compensation round out the reasons for today’s strike.
Though the provincial education minister has told media the Ontario government will strengthen the full-day kindergarten model, the ETFO claims those promises are not reflected in writing at the bargaining table.
Durance said his own class of Grade 7 and 8 students went from 23 kids last year to 32 kids this year.
“At the end of the day it means less time to individually get to know each student and to individually tailor your program toward each student,” said Durance.
He said as a parent and teacher, he sees the need for smaller classrooms closer to 20 or 25 students per teacher.
“If something happens at school and they just need five minutes to talk to somebody, where does that five minutes come from when you’re with 33 other kids who need the same thing?” said Durance. “I like to build relationships with students, and when you have less time, you see more people slipping through.”
Wages are also a sticking point in the union’s negotiations for the province. ETFO, like the other teachers’ unions, is asking for a two per cent increase to reflect the rate of inflation. The government has put forward legislation capping all public-sector pay increases to one per cent.
Durance said he doesn’t think teachers “deserve” more than other public-sector workers, but, he said, cost of living keeps increasing and their salaries have not over the past eight years.
The ETFO announced today it will escalate its rotating strikes across the province starting next week if central agreements are not reached by the end of January.
“From ETFO’s perspective, fair contract talks must include: appropriate funding for Special Education; a strategy to address classroom violence; maintaining our internationally recognized Kindergarten program; fair hiring practices; class sizes that meet the needs of elementary students; and compensation that keeps up with inflation,” states a press release from the ETFO.
This is the first time in nearly 20 years all of Ontario’s teachers’ unions are involved in job
actions at the same time.
Without a deal by the end of this week, Collingwood’s teachers could be on strike again Feb. 6.
