With just weeks to go before the start of the school year and without a new collective agreement in place, Ontario’s teachers and education workers say job action isn’t off the table as negotiations hit an impasse.
“All I can say right now, without a definitive answer, is we are going to fight on behalf of our members. We’re going to fight on behalf of students,” David Mastin, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), said Monday.
Mastin made the comment alongside leaders of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) and others at the start of ETFO’s annual meeting. The collective agreements for all of Ontario’s teachers and education workers unions expire on Aug. 31.