Over 83,000 members with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario voted and were 98-percent in favour of a strike, if it comes to that.
When speaking with My Bancroft Now earlier this month President of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario Hastings-Prince Edward Teacher Local Dave Henderson said that talks have stalled between the ETFO’s central team and the provincial government.
“The government’s position is to put things on the table that would represent strips to our collective agreement,” Henderson said. He added that “major changes” are being proposed to the kindergarten program that would see teachers no longer apart of the program. Changes to the hiring process have also been tabled, which he says will interfere with the current fair and transparent process.
“On our side, we’ve been asking for more resources for our special needs students and something to be done about the increased levels of violence in the classroom,” Henderson said. He added that the government hasn’t given much of a response to that.
Conciliation has been filed for by the union with bargaining at a standstill. Henderson said he believes that, unless things change soon, the conciliator will find that movement is not possible, which means a strike would be likely.