Public high school teachers to hold one-day strike Wednesday

By Max Reid

BELLEVILLE – Ontario’s public secondary school teachers will take part in a one-day walkout this Wednesday during what the union is calling a “frustrating” bargaining process with the provincial government. 

In a statement made last Tuesday, the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation announced that its members will be participating in a full withdrawal of services on Dec. 4 across the province if it could not reach a deal with the government by then.

This withdrawal would see classes being cancelled for all students from Grade 9 to 12 in public secondary school boards across the province, including the Hastings and Prince Edward School Board.

The Hastings and Prince Edward School Board is asking high school students to stay home school on Wednesday. However, in the cases of K-12 and 7-12 schools, class will run as usual for students from kindergarten to Grade 8. As well, the Algonquin & Lakeshore Catholic District School Board will not be affected by the walkout as Catholic teachers are represented by a separate union.

Both statements, made by the teachers’ union and the province, make reference to the issues of increasing class sizes as potential contributing factors to the escalation in job action that is to be seen on Wednesday.

In the province’s statement, Education Minister Stephen Lecce responded to the union’s frustration on the lack of movement on the issue of class sizes. Lecce said that “on the days we made reasonable offers – reducing class room sizes from 28 to 25 and reducing online learning courses from four to two – the unions decided to escalate. This is wrong, and our students deserve better.”