The head of the union representing elementary school teachers in Ontario said they are waiting for revised proposals from the government in order to return to the negotiating table with the province.
Talks did not resume between the ETFO and the province on Saturday, despite negotiations continuing late into the night Friday.
In a statement released Saturday, Education Minister Liz Sandals said “a number of the major issues were resolved” during talks with members of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, despite there being “some outstanding issues to work through.”
“Although we were prepared to work through the weekend, the ETFO has advised they need some time to consult on the remaining issues,” Sandals said. “They have not indicated when they will return to the bargaining table.”
But In a statement released Saturday afternoon, ETFO President Sam Hammond say that talks are “not suspended,” but rather the union is waiting for revised proposals from the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA) and the government.
“ETFO was prepared to bargain today if OPSBA and the government could develop a revised proposal addressing our concerns. Although we waited all day, they were not able to do that,” Hammond said.
ETFO resumed negotiations with the Ontario government and the Ontario Public School Boards Association (OPSBA) on Monday after a month-long break.
Sandals said that, while the province understands that ETFO representatives need time to discuss amongst themselves, the union should suspend all job action until a deal is reached.
“This is disappointing given the job action they (EFTO is) currently engaged in and the disruption it is causing for students,” Sandals said. “We are calling on the ETFO to call off their job action while they undertake their consultation process.”
The union is currently in "Phase 3" of its campaign.
As of Sept. 21, the union's 78,000 teachers and occasional teachers have been taking the following job actions:
- Not fill in for an absent teacher or take on additional students if a class is collapsed because an occasional teacher has not been retained
- Not take on additional duties during regularly scheduled preparation time (including teaching in another class)
- Not participate in teacher performance appraisal meetings, unless the member is on an improvement plan or long-term occasional assignment
- Not respond to email, electronic or phone communication from administrators unless it involves the safety of others, absences, day plans or occasional teacher assignments
- Not update classroom websites, blogs or newsletters
- Not submit any long-range or short-range plans, or literacy and numeracy block plans
- Not update Individual Education Plans (IEPs) after the 30th day of school deadline
- Not participate in any in-school meetings or professional learning activities on PA days, opting instead to use the time for their own professional development within the classroom
- Not prepare report card comments or complete or package progress reports, though they will provide administrators with a hard copy list of learning skills and work habits ratings
- Not conduct parent interview related to the progress report cards, unless there are concerns identified by the teacher about a child's progress
- Not act as division chairs or team leads
Teachers will also take part in "Wynne Wednesdays" once a week, and will:
- Refrain from any activities that take them away from their classrooms
- Demonstrate union solidarity by wearing ETFO buttons, caps or T-shirts, or a union colour
- Send messages to the Minister of Education or the Ontario Public School Board Association (OPSBA) about the importance of "fair and reasonable collective bargaining"
- Engage in planned lobbying activities including pickets, rallies and letter-writing campaigns.
Talks between the union and the provincial government first broke off on Sept. 11.
Negotiations resumed earlier this week, but ETFO threatened to escalate job action to rotating strikes if an agreement is not reached.
