Toronto's Catholic elementary teachers plan to strike at one or more schools on Monday
Toronto’s Catholic elementary teachers have given formal notice that they plan to conduct a strike at one or more schools next week amid frustrations over the pace of negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement.
The Toronto Catholic District School Board informed parents about the impending job action in a memo that was issued on Wednesday morning.
They said that the Toronto Elementary Catholic Teacher’s union has provided the board with notice that they will conduct a “full strike” at one or more schools on Monday, though it remains unclear which schools will be targeted.
The board says that the job action is being launched, in part, over two key issues. One relates to a plan to improve staff attendance and the other has to do with the way classroom assignments are handled, the board says.
However, the union says that its roughly 5,000 members have been without a contract since September, 2019 and are now one of the few education sector unions without a new collective bargaining agreement.
They are accusing the board of using “the cover of the pandemic to make unreasonable, regressive demands at the bargaining table.”
“We do not want to further escalate our job action,” Julie Altomare-DiNunzio, who is the president of the local, said in a statement provided to CP24. “As teachers, this is an incredibly difficult action for us to take, as more than anything, we want to be in the classroom, supporting our students’ academic success and well-being. But we cannot ignore the board’s bullying tactics, repeated efforts to drag out negotiations, punitive actions against teachers engaged in lawful job action, and refusal to work together to reach a fair collective agreement.
Talks between the union and the board began in February, 2021 but broke down a few months later, prompting the start of a work-to-rule campaign which has continues.
In its memo, the TCDSB said that it was “shocked” to be informed of the planned job action by the union.
It said that it is “inexcusable” that the union “wants to halt student learning by threatening to strike after all that students have been through during the pandemic.”
The board suggested that the dispute is solely about the union’s intention to prevent it “from providing absenteeism support and managing staffing processes.”
But the union said in its statement that the issues go much deeper than that.
“Our students are already suffering from pandemic-related learning loss. They cannot afford the further damage to the learning environment that the board’s punitive, costly, and ineffective demands would inflict — draconian impositions which would impact essential programs that support students, punish teachers for being sick, strip away rights, and constrain our teachers’ ability to best serve their students,” Altomare-DiNunzio said.
The planned job action by Toronto’s Catholic elementary school teachers comes just two weeks after schools were permitted to return to in-person learning following a nearly month-long closure.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said that the “most recent provocations” by the union are an “affront to the interests of children who deserve to be in school.”
“On behalf of tens of thousands of families who seek stability as Ontario gets through the challenges of Omicron: call off the strikes,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Shooting outside of Drake's Bridle Path mansion, 1 person seriously injured: source
Toronto police are investigating a shooting that took place outside of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion early Tuesday morning, a source tells CP24.
King Charles too busy to see son Prince Harry during U.K. trip
Prince Harry will not be seeing his father King Charles during his current visit to Britain as the monarch will be too busy, Harry's spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Your body needs these three forms of movement every week
Movement is movement, right? Not exactly. Here’s what your body is looking for in addition to your morning walk or yoga session, according to experts.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Quebec to limit sperm donations per donor after 3 men from same family father hundreds of children
Quebec is looking at tightening the regulations around sperm donation in the province following the release of a documentary that revealed three men from the same family fathered hundreds of children.
How to overcome 'savings guilt' when you're living paycheque to paycheque
As the higher cost of living continues to squeeze household budgets, many Canadians find they have even less left over at the end of every month to squirrel away for the future.
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.