Ontario Teachers’ Union Strikes
In January the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) gave their notice that members will begin rotating strikes if a deal is not reached with the government. Discussions appear to be at a crossroads as the government states that they have made several concessions in negotiations with the unions, yet the unions argue that the government has acted in bad faith. The impending strikes will harm the compensation of teachers, the education of children in elementary schools across Ontario, and the ability of parents to work and take care of their children.
To update the situation as of February 7th, members of the teachers’ unions that have implemented these rotating strikes have lost between two and three days of pay[1]. However, the loss of compensation for teachers is not the only issue that has been impacted by the ongoing battle between the provincial government and Ontario’s teachers’ unions. On Thursday February 6th approximately 945,000 elementary school students were forced to stay home from school due to the strikes[2]. As mentioned, this was not the first day of strikes and does not appear to be the last if an agreement is not reached soon. Although the strikes take away school days from students in the short run, teachers are fighting for certain conditions that will improve the education of students in the long run. These conditions include maintaining smaller class sizes and providing more support for students with special needs[3]. Another important aspect of the ongoing labour negotiations is the effect that it has on parents. The rotating strikes force the parents of these students to either stay home from work or pay for someone to look after their children for the day. As a response to this, the government has offered up to $60 a day per child, to parents whose children are affected by the closures[4]. This appears to be a short-term solution as they will likely not be able to continue to provide that level of compensation if strikes persist in the future. Additionally, the ETFO has argued that the offer of payment is a way for the government to bribe parents and earn their support in the disagreement.
In my own experience, there was a period spanning several months while I was in high school where schools did not run extra-curricular activities due to contract disagreements with the government. This period caused students to suffer greatly as many of us lost the ability to play sports or participate in clubs. This situation, however, did provide perspective on how much time and effort teachers commit to their jobs outside of the basic expectations of their contracts. It is clear that they are not receiving the support nor compensation that should be associated with the level of service and commitment that they provide.
[1] https://globalnews.ca/news/6517035/ontario-teachers-strikes-loss-of-pay/
[2] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-teacher-strike-etfo-analysis-osstf-oecta-1.5453447
[3] https://globalnews.ca/news/6485923/ontario-teachers-strikes-effects-experts/
[4] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/etfo-public-teachers-strike-1.5427368
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