All students in the Rainy River District will be impacted by strikes this week.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) and Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario will be undertaking one-day strike actions in response to stalled negotiations with the provincial government.
OSSTF and OECTA member swill be taking strike actions on Tuesday, Jan. 21 while ETFO members will be taking strike action on Wednesday, Jan. 22.
As a result of these strike actions, the Rainy River District School Board has notified parents that classes for high school students from Grades 9 to 12 will be cancelled on Tuesday, while classes for elementary students will be cancelled on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Northwest Catholic District School Board has said it will be closing all of its schools and programs for the one-day strike on Tuesday.
Both boards have encouraged parents to explore alternate arrangements for the dates in question and as the strike actions continue.
Teachers say that classroom sizes, mandatory online classes, more resources for students with special needs and rate-of-inflation wage increases at the heart of the stalled negotiations, while the government maintains that compensation is the major issue.
Most recently, Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced on Wednesday that the government would be paying up to $60 to parents whose children will be affected by the strikes.
