Ontario’s public elementary school teachers begin the next phase of their work-to-rule campaign on Monday.
On Friday, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) issued a bulletin to its 70,000 members, saying teachers won’t be providing comments on report cards or filling in for absent teachers. Teachers also won’t be conducting parent-teacher interviews unless there are specific concerns, responding to administrative emails, submitting plans, updating classroom websites, or attending meetings or professional development sessions..
Union officials also said every week, teachers will be holding “Wynne Wednesdays,” where teachers won’t take part in activities outside the classroom, including extracurriculars. Teachers are encouraged to wear ETFO T-shirts, baseball caps or a solidarity colour, and also participate in pickets, rallies and letter-writing campaigns.
One-day strikes are also a possibility starting in October if the province doesn’t return to the bargaining table, although those details haven’t been finalized.
Talks between the union, the Ontario government and public school boards broke down last week.
Last week, Premier Kathleen Wynne said it’s up to the union to explain why it won’t accept an offer that was similar to that reached with two other teachers’ unions.
ETFO is the only teachers’ union which still hasn’t reached an agreement. Its teachers have been working without a contract since last year.
Agreements reached in August with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation and the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association contain raises of 1.5 per cent plus another one-per-cent bonus. The Catholic teachers have ratified their agreement.
