The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario — one of the largest teachers' unions in Canada — said it's following through on what the majority of its 76,000 members said they wanted should contracts be forced on them.
The union said they even offered a truce to the governing Liberals, promising to hold off on any action if the government didn't use their controversial anti-strike law to impose the contracts until the next premier is chosen Jan. 26.
"The (education) minister made a deliberate and provocative choice to wipe out the democratic rights of tens of thousands of educators rather than work towards a respectful solution," ETFO president Sam Hammond said in a release.
"She could have taken our olive branch and waited for a new leader to try and find solutions, but she chose not to."
Education Minister Laurel Broten wouldn't say what kind of penalties striking teachers may face, saying it's up to the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
"I can't speak to any decision the Labour Relations Board would make," she said.
"What I can say is that any strike action would be illegal. Teachers should understand that, and again, I urge union leadership not to ask their teachers to undertake illegal activity."
Broten has promised to repeal the law that allowed her to impose the contracts on teachers by the end of the month. But Hammond has dismissed it as an empty gesture, since she's already used the legislative hammer on his members.
Elementary teachers "are standing up to say that democratic values must trump party politics in this province," Hammond said.
"What happened to educators must not happen to any other Ontarian," he said. "The stain of Bill 115, enacted four months ago this Friday, serves as a permanent reminder of that."
Broten also imposed new two-year contracts on the province's public high school teachers, who are expected to maintain their boycott of extracurricular activities.
Top brass at the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation is set to meet Wednesday, but president Ken Coran was not available for comment.
The union posted a message on its website Monday saying teachers would go back to their contractual obligations and not strike, but "voluntary or extracurricular activities will not resume."
A union representing 38,000 Ontario public servants also announced Wednesday that it reached a tentative two-year collective agreement with the government.
The deal with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union includes a commitment to implement a two-year wage freeze to help battle the province's $14.4-billion deficit, the government said. Details won't be released until the agreement is ratified.
The Liberals previously reached a deal with a labour group representing 12,000 managers, supervisors and other professionals in the public service, which was ratified in October.
Original Article
Source: huffington post
Author: Maria Babbage
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