English public elementary teachers stay on job, drop administrative work

Up North6:29Elementary school teachers take job action starting Monday

Barb Blasutti, union rep for English public elementary teachers in the Sudbury area, explains to host Barry Mercer planned job action Monday and what it means for parents and kids.

English public elementary students across Ontario will be in the classroom on Monday and so will their teachers.

But as part of a union ordered job action, the teachers will not be filling out report card comments, administering standardized tests or taking part in training and staff meetings.

Barb Blasutti, the president of the elementary teachers' union for the Rainbow District School Board, said teachers are "withdrawing cooperation" to do work related to "initiatives of the Ministry of the Education."

She said students in Sudbury, Espanola and on Manitoulin Island likely won't notice much of a difference.

"They're probably going to see more of their classroom teacher," she said, noting that what the teachers are dropping in protest normally keeps them away from instructing students.

Blasutti said the union avoided making the "very, very difficult decision" of going out on strike and hopes that this job action "will be enough" to get the province back to the bargaining table.

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario has not said what any future escalation of job action could include.

Meanwhile, English public high school students have been out of class for two weeks now because Rainbow secondary teachers been walking picket lines.