Local elementary teachers' union promises no one-day strikes Oct. 1
Letter sent by OCDSB warning of job action "alarmist," says union president
The union chapter representing local public elementary teachers says that it won't start rotating one-day strikes on Oct. 1, despite a warning sent by one local school board last week to its parents.
On Sept. 25, the Ottawa Carleton District School Board sent a letter to parents that outlined the current job action elementary teachers are taking in Ontario and warned that rotating strikes in this part of the province could be imminent.
"The union has also advised that effective October 1st, they may begin rotating one day strikes," read the letter, signed by OCDSB director of education Jennifer Adams.
"We are working with the union to confirm that advance notice will be provided. We will share more detail as it becomes available," it continued.
'A little misleading'
Adams told CBC Ottawa Monday that the information in that letter came from the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario's provincial website — and that's drawn the ire of Peter Giuliani, president of the local teachers' union.
"I think it is a little misleading and a little alarmist. There's information in [the OCDSB's letter] that's actually wrong, and some of it is going to lead parents to assume something is happening that isn't actually happening."
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The letter also suggests teachers are only communicating with parents when there is a concern over security or student progress, when "in actual fact we have said no such thing," Giuliani added.
Work-to-rule campaign
As part of its work-to-rule campaign, the ETFO has said its members will not take part in parent-teacher meetings or class trips, nor will they fill in for absent colleagues. Teachers also are permitted to wear shirts or buttons to protest the lack of a contract.
Premier Kathleen Wynne has urged the ETFO to accept essentially the same deals as those accepted by their colleagues in high schools and the Catholic system, which were ratified earlier this month.