Ontario high school students returning to class after strike ruled illegal
70,000 students have been out of class for weeks
More than 70,000 high school students kept from class for weeks by teacher strikes in the Toronto-area regions of Durham and Peel and the Sudbury-area Rainbow District returned to school today.
That's after the Ontario Labour Relations Board ruled the job actions illegal Tuesday evening as the legislature debated back-to-work legislation.
- Ontario high school teachers' strikes illegal, labour board rules
- Back-to-work legislation for Ontario's striking high school teachers
- Peel teachers strike means student athletes may not compete
Education Minister Liz Sandals says lawyers are looking through the ruling, but in the meantime the Liberal government will still try to get the legislation passed.
The labour relations board ordered a two-week moratorium on the strikes to give the Ontario Secondary School
Teachers' Federation an opportunity to "cleanse" the local strikes of central issues.
Labour board chair Bernard Fishbein sided with the school boards in concluding the three local strikes were, at least in part, on the central issue of class sizes.
This is the first round of negotiations to formally separate local and central bargaining under legislation the Liberal government brought in last year.
Wednesday afternoon, the OSSTF released a statement that they intend to resume strike action in all three boards on June 10, once the moratorium has ended. If the back-to-work legislation passes in the legislature, which is expected, then the OSSTF would be prohibited from initiating further strike action this year.
Many students learned they would be heading back to school this morning late Tuesday evening.
'Hopefully we will graduate on time'
CBC News spoke with a number of students and parents outside of Lorne Park Secondary School in Mississauga, Ont.
"It was a bit of a shock, but we're back so we might as well make the best of it," she told CBC News. "I just hope I remember everything in time for exams."
Other students expressed relief that they would likely be able to graduate on time.
"I'm frustrated that we lost three weeks of learning but I'm happy we won't have to go into the summer," said Kennedy Moore, another Grade 12 student at Lorne Park.
"Hopefully we will graduate on time and go off to university next year."
'Very confused'
Pauline Monkhouse, the mother of a Grade 10 student was critical of the teachers' union for failing to adequately articulate what actually caused the strike.
"My daughter and I were very confused as to why the teachers were striking ... I don't think it was clearly defined," she said.
Monkhouse is concerned about her daughter's ability to finish the Grade 10 math curriculum effectively.
"If she doesn't learn that then she's really going to be in trouble next year ... I think my husband is going to have to teach her some of it," she added.
As part of the revised, compact curriculum for all students, no assignments will be due this week at schools in the Peel and Durham boards.
Read the labour board's decision below
(PDF KB)
(Text KB)CBC is not responsible for 3rd party content
With files from CBC News