Halton District School Board provided an update for parents on the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) job action and the impact on elementary schools. On Oct. 22, ETFO announced they would be escalating its current job action if an agreement was not reached. As per the ETFO news release beginning Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, elementary teachers and occasional teachers will withdraw from all voluntary in Ontario public schools.
The Teacher's Federation released the following comment on October 22, 2015.
“The Liberal government and OPSBA have ignored all attempts by ETFO to get them to return to the central bargaining table, including an offer to refer one issue to binding arbitration. If OPSBA and the government want a deal, why are they not responding to our efforts to resume bargaining? Why are they not back at the bargaining table with us?” said ETFO President Sam Hammond.
“Our members do not undertake this escalation of strike action lightly, but they understand that reaching a fair and reasonable agreement will not happen unless OPSBA and the government are present at the bargaining table.”
“We are calling on OPSBA and the government to return to the central bargaining table with ETFO to work to conclude this round of negotiations. ETFO members have been working without a contract since August 2014. That is not good for our teachers or for our students,” added Hammond.
The Halton District School Board provided this additional information on October 23, 2015.
Voluntary extracurricular activities include, but are not limited to:
- Coaching sports teams (e.g., soccer,track and field, volleyball, etc.);
- Supervising clubs (e.g., chess, student advisory committee, etc.);
- Supervising performance and arts activities/events (e.g., choir, band, talent show, school play, school dance, etc.).
As part of the latest sanctions, ETFO has also indicated that teachers will not complete November Progress Reports. The HDSB is currently considering options including postponing elementary progress reports. We will provide more information when it is available.
Our Principals and Vice-principals have done their very best to maintain school activities - and we thank them for their work. Our direction to Principals and Vice-principals is to focus on student and staff safety, as well as keeping schools open and operating during these extraordinary times.
We will continue to provide you with accurate and timely information as we are able.