Elementary teacher strikes to hit three boards as contract talks resume

Nationalpost.com
Jan. 30, 2020

Ontario elementary teachers in three school boards are to strike today, a day after their union and the government held contract talks that are to continue.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario has been staging one-day, rotating strikes since last week, and the union is targeting boards in Durham, Lambton Kent and Algoma on Thursday.

The union says if a deal isn’t reached by Friday, they plan to hold provincewide strikes once a week --with the first one set for Feb. 6 --and each board will be hit by a one-day rotating strike as well.

The federation sat down with the government Wednesday for the first time since Dec. 19 after a government-appointed mediator called the two sides back to the table.

Union president Sam Hammond has said he hopes the government negotiators have a mandate to remove further cuts, increase supports for students with special needs, address violence in classrooms, preserve the current kindergarten model and maintain fair and transparent hiring practices.