For the second time in the new year, the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario walked out in protest.
Negotiations are continuing between the Province and the teacher’s unions, but the lack of progress has lead to teachers in Halton walking out on Monday.
One of the issues that the unions want to address is classroom violence. Randy Potter with the ETFO expands on that issue.
Kindergarten teacher, Nicole Kuiper, says having support staff in the classroom is big for students.
President of the Halton ETFO, Kathy Proctor, says the two strikes this week haven’t affected support from parents.
In addition to the strike on Monday, there will be another walkout on Thursday.
Some of the issues that are being talked about include, wages, class sizes, e-learning.
While the mediator has called off discussions, the government stands ready to meet at any time to reach a deal that keeps students in class.
Locally, Milton MPP Parm Gill had this to say about the strike:
“Our focus has always been to reach a negotiated settlement that keeps kids in class because union-led escalation hurts students the most. The reality is since 2003 teachers’ salaries have increased by 80 per cent from $6.5 billion to $11.7 billion, while student enrollment has increased by less than 1 percent. Our government is investing more money into education than ever before in the history of our province, and we are offering a reasonable 1 per cent increase in compensation. Our aim has always been to reach a negotiated settlement, which we have done successfully with multiple labour partners to date.”
