WELLINGTON COUNTY – New strike action from unions representing a variety of education workers will impact students across Wellington County.
Ontario Elementary Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) president Liz Stuart has announced union members will participate in a “full withdrawal of services” on Jan. 21.
“Teachers are the last line of defence against this government’s cuts,” states the union’s Twitter account.
“We are ready to negotiate, but gov(ernment) must come to the table ready to protect publicly funded education.”
OECTA members voted 97.1% in favour of taking strike action in November.
The one-day strike was announced on Jan. 13, the same day OECTA started administrative job action, during which members will:
– provide limited report card information;
– not enter diagnostic testing data;
– not complete any Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO)-related activities; and
– not attend or participate in ministry initiatives.
EQAO tests
Local public and Catholic school students will not be participating in Grade 9 math EQAO assessments this month.
As part of job action by OECTA and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), members are refusing to participate in EQAO (Education Quality and Accountability Office) preparation, testing, administration and marking.
Despite the cancelation of EQAO testing, teachers will continue to work through the Grade 9 math curriculum until the end of the semester.
Come June, Minister of Education Stephen Lecce said Grade 9 math students who missed the test in January will need to complete the EQAO assessment.
ETFO
On Jan. 13, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) ramped up labour actions and withdrew from supervising any extra-curricular activities or field trips.
If no progress is made at talks with the province, ETFO members will begin rotating one-day strikes next week.
OSSTF
Pending an agreement between the OSSTF) and the government, all schools in Wellington County were scheduled to close to students on Jan. 15.
The closure is part of the rotating OSSTF one-day strikes. Both the Upper Grand District School Board and Wellington Catholic District School Board are impacted, as all schools employ OSSTF members.
For more information about education workers’ strike actions check out this week’s Wellington Advertiser.
