Staff
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation announced yesterday that high school teachers with the Rainy River District School Board will undergo a full withdrawal of services, one day per week, beginning tomorrow.
“Our members are frankly exasperated with the board’s refusal to negotiate and reluctance to address our key issues,” noted Kent Kowalski, president of OSSTF/FEESO District 5B, Rainy River Secondary Teachers.
He indicated access to work for those who are laid off, the protection of members’ rights in an attendance management program, and respect for their professional judgement are significant issues that remain on the table despite the union’s best efforts to negotiate.
The teachers have been engaged in a selective withdrawal of services since December, and remain without a contract despite another day of negotiations this week.
The OSSTF will determine the date of subsequent one-day strikes at the beginning of each week, and will notify its members and the board.
Due to the strike action planned, and the school board unable to provide a safe learning environment for high school students, all instructional programs for Grades 9-12 will be cancelled and all board secondary schools will be closed to students tomorrow.
Elementary school classes and programming will continue as normal.
Additional impacts of the one-day strikes include:
•high school extra-curricular activities, field trips, and school events being cancelled during the one-day walk-outs; and
•buses for secondary students not operating.
Buses will continue their routes for elementary students only.
“We are deeply disappointed as a board in the actions of the OSSTF leadership,” board chair Dianne McCormack said in a release issued later yesterday.
“There is no legitimate reason to disrupt student learning.”
She noted the board has been willing to meet anytime for as long as it takes.
“In going ahead with this strike action, OSSTF is irresponsibly disrupting the school year for Rainy River District secondary students as a political tactic,” McCormack charged.
“There is no need for bargaining or negotiation pressure that would result in our secondary schools to be on strike—none. . . .
“There are no local issues that are insurmountable,” she stressed.
Local negotiations began a full year ago this week. But in all that time, OSSTF claims the board agreed to only 11 days of bargaining.
Meanwhile, the school board indicated it has spent more than 150 hours trying to negotiate a settlement, and has offered solutions from mediation to arbitration to resolve the contract issues.
The teachers and occasional teachers at the secondary school level have been without a contract for almost 20 months.
While the parties have been able to reach agreement on a number of items, several significant issues remain unresolved.
