Local secondary school teachers to strike on Thursday if no agreement reached with province

KAWARTHA LAKES-The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF)has announced a one-day strike that will impact Trillium Lakelands District School Board this Thursday March 5th if no deal reached with the government.

Trillium Lakelands is one of a select few boards impacted by the strike. Other boards impacted include:

OSSTF/FEESO members in other school boards across the province will continue to engage in a limited withdrawal of services, which has been in place since November, will continue province-wide.

OSSTF/FEESO President Harvey Bischof has repeated the Federation’s standing offer to postpone pending job actions if the government agrees to return to, and maintain, the class size ratios and staffing levels that were in place in Ontario schools during the 2018-2019 school year.

“Almost every day, in the media and in the legislature, we see the Premier and the Minister of Education practically jumping through hoops to avoid answering questions about the government’s agenda of larger class sizes, mandatory e-learning, and fewer supports for our most vulnerable students,” said OSSTF/FEESO President Harvey Bischof.

“Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce won’t talk about these issues because they know full well that that their policies are indefensible,” continued Bischof. “They also know, as evidenced again this week by data from their own consultations, that their agenda has virtually no support among education stakeholders or the general public.”

OSSTF has over 60,000 members across Ontario. They include public high school teachers, occasional teachers, educational assistants, continuing education teachers and instructors, early childhood educators, psychologists, secretaries, speech-language pathologists, social workers, plant support personnel, university support staff, and many others in education.