Ontario’s elementary teachers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action if contract negotiations with the government fail to reach an agreement.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario said on Wednesday that its members voted 95 per cent in favour of strike action. The contracts for all of Ontario’s education unions, including teachers’ unions, expired in August, 2022.
“This strong strike mandate sends a very clear message to the government,” ETFO president Karen Brown said in a statement.
“Our members have been working for over a year without a contract, and their patience has run out. We need the government to stop stalling and start negotiating seriously on our members’ key priorities, like providing more supports for students with special needs, acknowledging the staffing crisis in education, putting a fair compensation offer on the table and addressing violence in schools.”
A strike vote does not necessarily mean members will take part in any job action. Negotiations between the parties continue.
ETFO did not share how many of its members voted.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said in a statement on Wednesday that it was “extremely disappointing” to have the union reject opportunities to reach a deal that will keep schools open.
“Instead, ETFO has voted in favour of a strike mandate that Ontario families do not want or deserve,” he said.
ETFO represents about 80,000 elementary teachers and occasional teachers, as well as early childhood workers, education support personnel and professional support personnel.
Last month, the union said it reached a tentative agreement with the government and school boards for its 3,500 education workers.
The government has urged the teachers’ unions to enter binding arbitration. That would mean no strikes or lockouts, because any items not agreed on at the bargaining table would be sent to a third-party arbitrator.
ETFO, along with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association and the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens, have rejected the proposal. The unions say their items, which include violence in schools and supports for special-needs students, will not be addressed through binding arbitration.
Instead, ETFO is working with a conciliator appointed by the Minister of Labour.
Last month, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation said its members approved a proposal to use binding arbitration, if needed, to reach a new contract with the government.
Under the approved proposal, that bargaining will continue until Oct. 27, and any items left unresolved will be sent to an arbitrator. “Now we have the opportunity to bypass traditional bargaining pathways to secure a fair collective agreement,” president Karen Littlewood said last month.
Caroline Alphonso