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Teachers' unions unite for massive one-day strike

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Local teachers and education workers were on picket lines across Brantford and Brant, Norfolk and Haldimand counties Friday as part of a provincewide strike meant to send a message to the Ontario government.

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“It’s a show of solidarity,” said Maria Iliopoulos, a teacher at St. Theresa School in Brantford, who was among a large group picketing outside the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board office on Fairview Drive.

“It’s a message to the government that this is about the students.”

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Friday’s strike by four teacher unions — the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, the Ontario Secondary Teachers’ Federation, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association and the Association of the Franco-Ontarian teachers, meant that about 200,000 teachers were on the picket lines and two million students at 5,000 schools across the province were out of class.

A mass protest also was held Friday at Queen’s Park.

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OSSTF president Harvey Bischof said the show of unity by the unions should force the government back to the bargaining table.

Andrew Campbell, a Grade 5-6 teacher at Major Ballachey Public School in Brantford, called the job action historic. The unions say this is the first time since 1997 that teachers and education workers from Ontario’s main unions are out of the classrooms on the same day.

“All the teaching unions coming together is an example of how frustrated we are with the process of trying to reach a fair agreement,” said Campbell. “I hope the collective action is a strong indication to the government that they need to come to the table.”

Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the two million students out of class Friday should be in school instead.

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“The focus of union leaders ought to be on negotiating a deal that keeps students in class,” Lecce said in a statement. “Parents are losing patience with the union-caused disruption in their lives, the inconsistency in their children’s education, and the financial impact of scrambling for alternate care.”

All of the teachers’ unions are asking for around two per cent in annual salary increases, while the government is offering one per cent. It passed legislation last year capping wage hikes for all public sector workers at one per cent for three years, which the unions are challenging in court.

Ed House, strike captain for the local OSSTF district, said the job action isn’t about teacher salaries. A teacher at Grand Erie Learning Alternatives, he said the pay lost by teachers and education workers on strike days already surpasses the two per cent increase being sought

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House said the dispute is about standing up to the government’s cuts to education.

“I have three children, two of them in elementary school,” said House. “I’m standing out there as much for them as for my own job.”

At issue for the various education unions are class-size increases in high school, mandatory online courses for high school students, funding for special education, protection of the full-day kindergarten program and support to deal with an increasing number of violent incidents in schools.

“We’re here because we don’t want the cuts, we’re here to keep our class sizes the way they are,” said Christine Denn, a teacher at Saint Frances Cabrini School in Delhi. “I teach kindergarten and I want to see it left under 30, right now I have 29 kids.

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“We’re not here for the money, we’re here to make a difference for our children.”

Teachers and support staff of Ecole Saint Marie, a French language school in Simcoe, who were gathered along Queen Street in Simcoe on Friday, said they won’t back down.

Local union members dispute Lecce’s suggestion that teachers are losing parent support for the job action.

Campbell said public polling indicates Ontarians are behind the teachers. He said some drop off coffee and treats and have joined them on the picket lines.

The government has been providing parents with up to $60 for each day their child is out of school due to job action by the unions.

OECTA annonced late Friday that is is suspending rotating strikes planned for next week.

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