York Region's Catholic schools will close next Tuesday if their teachers' union goes ahead with a one-day strike.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) said last week that if a negotiated settlement cannot be reached with the province, a one-day strike by its members will take place across the province Jan. 21.
"The health and safety of students is our primary concern," the York District Catholic School Board (YCDSB) said in a bargaining update. "Therefore, if this one-day strike occurs, all YCDSB schools will be closed to students for the day."
All teachers at YCDSB are members of OECTA.
Transportation will also be cancelled if the one-day strike is held.
The board is advising parents to make alternate child care arrangements as a precaution, however, its child care centres, before and after school programs and Early ON centres will continue to operate.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced today that the government will offer parents up to $60 per day if strike actions close schools or school-based child care centres.
"We recognize the impact of union escalation on families is real, and unions expect hard-working families to bear the costs of their cyclical labour action," Lecce said in a news release. "While unions impose hardship on families and students, our government is taking proactive steps to ensure students remain cared for — and families supported — in the event that unions decide to further escalate job action in their fight for enhanced compensation and other demands. The contrast could not be clearer."
A full withdrawal of services requires parents to make alternative child care arrangements, and a strike could also force the closure of full-day child care centres located in schools, he said.
OECTA president Liz Stuart said the government appears to only "do the right thing" when under pressure, so teachers have little choice but to take the next step in the bargaining process.
Catholic teachers have been taking part in a work-to-rule campaign that includes not participating in standardized testing, preparing report card comments or taking part in Ministry of Education initiatives.
The government negotiating team has said it has no authority to reach an agreement that doesn't include "significant, permanent cuts," Stuart said.
Meanwhile, the union representing the province's 83,000 public school teachers, occasional teachers and education professionals confirmed today that teachers at the Toronto District School Board, York Region District School and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board will be holding a one-day strike Monday.
“Other than cuts to education, Ford’s Education Minister Stephen Lecce has refused to give his negotiators a mandate to discuss the substantive issues we know are important for students and education workers,” Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) president Sam Hammond said in a news release.
As of today, no further dates for contract talks have been set, Hammond added.
Hammond called the province's compensation a "transparent" and "shameful" plan to "bribe" parents just one day after two parent groups spoke out in support of teachers.
"Rather than deciding to get to the table… what he (Lecce) decides to do is to let this drag out and provide a subsidy for parents," he said. "Instead of doing that, put $50 million into the system (and) get back to the table."
The province announced today it will provide financial support to parents for each day of school that a child misses due to a labour disruption, or each day of child care that is not available if offered from a closed school.
Eligible parents of children up to age 12 (Grade 7), or up to age 21 for children and youth with special needs, in a publicly funded school, qualify for:
- $60 per day for children aged up to six not yet enrolled in school but attending a school-based child care centre closed by the strike.
- $40 per day for students in junior kindergarten and senior kindergarten.
- $25 per day for students in grade 1 to 7.
- $40 total per day for students in JK up to and including Grade 12 with a special need(s).
Funding will be retroactive for qualifying parents to cover costs already incurred due to labour disruptions that have occurred during the current 2019-20 labour negotiations.
For more details, parent can visit Ontario.ca/SupportForParents or by calling the Support for Parents Helpline at 888-444-3770.
