Elementary school teachers with the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) were forced to withdraw a planned day of protest on Jan. 11 after the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) ruled strike action by teachers was illegal.
Doug Cook, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) District 18 local, which represents about 1,150 elementary teachers with the Upper Grand, said his membership was disappointed by the OLRB ruling that came after a 12-hour marathon hearing that concluded at around 4am on Jan. 11.
“We’re not happy,” he said. “Our voice has been robbed.”
Cook added the provincial union will decide on what steps its members will take to protest Bill 115 and the imposition of teacher contracts announced by education minister Laurel Broten on Jan. 3.
Teachers’ unions have launched a legal challenge to the controversial bill, known as the Putting Students First Act, which stripped teachers of the right to strike, froze wages for two years, cut the number of annual sick days from 20 to 10 and slashed sick days teachers could bank.
Cook said boycotting extracurricular activities remains an option for teachers.
“It’s sort of in limbo right now,” Cook said of the option left up to individual teachers. “We may very well have to take an extra look at our extracurriculars.”
Cook acknowledged students and parents have been caught in the middle of the dispute between teachers and the provincial government.
“Parents are fuming and they should be,” he said.
The Upper Grand board issued a statement early Friday that schools would be open after the OLRB ruling was handed down. Initially the board had indicated schools would close if the strike proceeded.
“We realize that parents were extremely inconvenienced,” school board chairman Mark Bailey said.
“First scrambling for child care, next the early morning OLRB ruling, and then the bus cancellations for inclement weather, added to the frustration. Bus cancellations were not decided until 6:30 in the morning, which was after the decision to keep our schools open.
“It’s been a bit of a roller coaster [ride] for us and parents,” Bailey said. “The board appreciates all the work the labour relations board did to ensure schools would be open.”
Students not attending school on Jan. 11 due to bus cancellations or the reversal of the school closings will not have their attendance records penalized. The absences will be recorded as general, or pardoned.
Paul Rawlinson, president of District 18 of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), which represents 800 UGDSB teachers, said the provincial union has called off a similar day of action that would have seen high school teachers walk off the job on Jan. 16.
