Ontario Government's
Anti-Social Offensive on
Education Broadly Rejected
Teachers and Education Workers Hold Province-Wide One-Day Strike
Picket line outside the Toronto District School Board offices, December
4, 2019.
On Wednesday, December 4, members of the Ontario
Secondary
School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) who work in K-12 and adult
education in Ontario engaged in a province-wide one-day strike.[1]
Pickets were set up outside schools, school board administrative
offices and the constituency offices of Premier Doug Ford,
Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Progressive Conservative
MPPs around the province.
 Since
November 26, high school teachers and support staff represented by
OSSTF have engaged in a limited withdrawal of services affecting only
government or school board initiatives, held information pickets
outside working hours and given out flyers in their communities
explaining their stand against the government's cuts.
In addition to closing high schools for the day,
many
public boards also closed their elementary schools, with some Catholic
boards also closing schools, as OSSTF represents support staff in a
range of job classes in the English and French systems. Even if their
schools were closed, teachers represented by other unions, including
the
Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and Ontario English
Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA), and support staff represented
by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Ontario Public
Service Employees' Union, Unifor and other organizations, were required
to report for work. While CUPE had announced its members would not
cross OSSTF’s picket lines, on December 2 the Ontario Labour
Board ordered CUPE to inform its members that refusal to cross a picket
line could constitute participation in an illegal strike and be
subject to discipline, fines, penalties and prosecution, given that
CUPE has a signed collective agreement in effect.
That did not stop members of CUPE or the other unions from showing
solidarity with their striking colleagues, with many bringing their
flags and joining OSSTF’s picket lines before starting work
or on
their lunch breaks.
ETFO provincial executive in solidarity with OSSTF strike action.
Parents, union members from different sectors and
others
who appreciated the stand being taken by teachers and education workers
came out as well to add their voices to the demand that the government
reverse its damaging cuts to education. Those who participated in or
visited the picket lines frequently remarked on the high spirits and
camaraderie that prevailed. This was also in evidence in the many
photos and videos posted on social media from towns and cities all
around the province. No doubt contributing to the upbeat mood was the
confidence people felt that they were fighting for a just cause and
that standing together to let the government know that No Means No! was
the right thing to do.
Ontario Parent Action Network rally in solidarity with
teachers
and education workers as OSSTF strike deadline approaches, Toronto,
December 3, 2019.
Since then the conciliation process OECTA had been
engaged in with the government has broken down, with the conciliator
filing a No Board report on Thursday, December 5. As a result, Catholic
teachers,
who last month voted by over 97 per cent in favour of striking if
necessary, will be in a legal strike position as of December 21.
In a statement OECTA President Liz Stuart said, "As has become
abundantly clear this week, Ontarians recognize the Ford government is
not listening to their concerns, or treating publicly funded education
with the respect it deserves. This 'no-board' should serve
as another wakeup call for Premier Ford and Minister Lecce that it is
time to get their act together. Our Association has two days of
bargaining scheduled this week, and two more next week. We sincerely
hope the government’s negotiating team will come to the table
with a mandate to abandon the cuts and reach an agreement."
The Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens,
representing teachers in Ontario's French language schools, will hold a
strike vote later this month.
Pembroke
Kingston
 
Bancroft
Belleville
Pickering
North Bay
Espanola
Sudbury
 
Thunder Bay
Manitoulin
Keswick
Richmond Hill
Toronto, Jarvis Collegiate
Toronto, George Harvey, CI
Etobicoke, Premier Doug Ford's Office
Etobicoke, Lakeshore Collegiate
Mississauga, TL Kennedy
Mississauga, Cawthra Park SS; Mississauga, John Fraser SS
 
Peel Region
Woodbridge
Orangeville
Milton
 
Guelph
Waterloo
London
Tilbury
Kingsville
 
Windsor
Windsor, Elementary Teachers' Solidarity
 
Note
1. "Workers Hold One-Day Province-Wide Strike," Workers'
Forum, December 4, 2019.
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