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Ontario elementary school teachers vote in favour of strike action (update)

The union has been holding strike votes over the last several weeks
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The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario has voted overwhelmingly in favour of central strike action, if necessary.

The union, which represents 83,000 workers in Ontario, is currently negotiating a new labour deal with the provincial government and has been holding strike votes over the last several weeks.  

The union representing Ontario’s elementary school teachers say they have voted overwhelmingly, 98 per cent, for central strike action.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has been trying to negotiate a new labour deal with the provincial government.

ETFO President Sam Hammond would not commit to a specific deadline for when strike action could take place.

Hammond says the very first issue they put on the table was maintaining full-day kindergarten and it has not been addressed, along with violence in elementary schools, which he says has been swept under the rug.

This round of bargaining has been tense, as it comes amid government attempts to impose caps on wage increases for public sector workers and increased class sizes, which will mean thousands of fewer teachers in the system.

Hammond has said the government has told the union it’s seeking $150 million in reductions to its collective agreement.

“It seems like only teachers and education professionals, not this government, are concerned with the quality of publicly funded education that our kids receive in classrooms across this province,” says ETFO president Sam Hammond.

He adds support for students with special needs and concerns about class size and structure for elementary school are also issues their workers are focused on.

The province’s education workers have been without contracts since the end of August.

Last month, the province reached a deal with the Canadian Union of Public Employees hours before its members were to walk off the job.

High school teachers and teachers in the English Catholic system are also holding strike votes, with results expected in the next couple of weeks.

Story by The Canadian Press and 680 NEWS



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