High school teachers in Fort Frances, Rainy River, and Atikokan began the first phase of strike action this week after contract talks with the Rainy River District School Board collapsed last Thursday.
“Sanctions have begun,” said Brian Church, president of the bargaining unit for the local Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation 5B. “Phase one is the lowest form of protest.
“Teachers will attend and teach all their classes, and attend meetings scheduled during regular school hours,” he explained. “They’ll show up 15 minutes before classes begin and stay 15 minutes after.”
He added teachers who are involved with extra-curricular activities will stay around to do that. But teachers won’t go to meetings scheduled before or after school hours nor make personal comments on report cards.
Church said since talks broke down here last week, the Superior-Greenstone district, which covers a large area near Marathon, has reached a settlement with its teachers, though it hasn’t been ratified yet.
An announcement is expected by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, the Keewatin-Patricia school district was negotiating yesterday and today and the Thunder Bay district 6A teachers had their negotiations fail earlier this week and are also in Phase One of job action. Church believes the outcomes of these three districts will have a bearing on what happens here.
He noted once other boards begin to work through negotiations and settlements become ratified, a trend will appear and most boards will fall in line.
“The way negotiations work, the more of a trend that is set as to what is acceptable, the more boards fall into the trend,” he said.
The union remains optimistic that things will be resolved quickly and have no timeline set to upgrade their strike action.
The local public school board reported last week that it would be willing to return to the negotiating table at any time.
The teachers are looking for a five percent wage/benefit increase in the current year, retroactive to Sept. 1, 2002. The board has offered teachers a three percent increase for this year or a two-year contract worth three percent each year.
The teachers’ negotiating team showed little movement through the talks on their demands, the board said in a press release issued last week, adding the union presented no counter offer.
The two sides have yet to set a date for further talks.
The teachers, who have been working without a contract since the fall, voted more than 98 percent in favour of strike action after talks last month with a conciliator failed to reach an agreement.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
