Ottawa high school teachers to begin job action Thursday
CBC News | Posted: May 15, 2015 5:04 PM | Last Updated: May 15, 2015
Regular school operations continues as teachers plan partial withdrawal of service
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board high school teachers will begin a "partial withdrawal of service" on Thursday as a labour dispute continues with the province but regular school operations are expected to continue as usual.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation gave the school district its five-day notice of strike action on Friday, indicating that teachers would:
- Report only marks — no comments or learning skills.
- Take part in "solidarity days," which could including wearing OSSTF colours and arm bands.
- Take part in optional lunchtime picketing.
- Not attend school or OCDSB meetings.
- Not distribute OCDSB materials and communications to students.
- Not participate in writing courses or curricula.
- Not take part in credit recovery referrals and/or complete credit analysis forms.
- Not complete Annual Learning Plans.
The OSSTF has named the OCDSB as one of seven Ontario secondary school boards targeted for strike action.
The OCDSB said in a news release that negotiations will continue.
"The school district remains committed to negotiating fair and fully funded collective agreements with all of our employee groups," it said.
Teachers in three other boards — Durham, Peel and Rainbow (Sudbury) — have been on strike for weeks, keeping more than 70,000 students out of class. The Labour Relations Board is reviewing the legality of those strikes.
Ontario's elementary school teachers began a similar work-to-rule campaign on Monday, during which they won't write report card comments or take part in any activities related to provincial standardized testing.
Ontario Education Minister Liz Sandals released a statement on Friday afternoon saying she would seek the advice of the Education Relations Commission of Ontario in relation to the ongoing OSSTF strikes across the province.