Ontario's public elementary school teachers union has announced its work-to-rule strike action measures starting November 26th, but promise they won't impact students.
The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario says it will target its Ministry of Education and school board administration duties.
President Sam Hammond said members will not fill out report cards, although marks will be sent to a school administrator and parents will continue to communicate with parents.
However, there will no professional learning outside school hours, no participation in developing the new provincial math strategy, data collection and surveys and almost no school board committee work.
"It will have no effect on students learning conditions or their safety in any way," Hammond said, defending the report card decision, arguing it won't impede students' learning atmosphere or educational progress.
"It is just another administrative task," he said.
This is Phase 1 of the union's work-to-rule action and if a deal can't be reached by the 26th, Hammond said it's unclear when the next set of measures could happen.
"We don't know," he said. "We have no plans to ratchet this up."
Hammond argued he does have the support of parents.
"That's why we have been so careful," he said.
In a statement, Education Minister Stephen Lecce expressed disappointment.
"ETFO has decided to escalate to a partial withdrawal of services, which hurts our kids, despite a limited number of outstanding items at the table," he said, focusing on the math strategy. "Given that far too many students across the province continue to struggle with math, this move will clearly hurt students in, and beyond, the classroom."
"As I have always said, my negotiating team stands ready for meaningful, good faith bargaining 24/7, to land the deals Ontario students and families deserve.”
While a major sticking point of the negotiations has been over compensation, Hammond said the measures are not purely about pay.
The full list:
- NOT participate in any school board or Ministry of Education professional learning offered outside of the instructional day (including online or face-to-face professional learning);
- NOT participate in activities related to the Fundamentals of Math Strategy (except as referenced above);
- NOT participate in any Ministry of Education online training or webinars;
- NOT participate in any EQAO-related activities;
- NOT participate in any school board or Ministry of Education professional learning offered outside of the instructional day (including online or face-to-face professional learning);
- NOT participate in activities related to the Fundamentals of Math Strategy (except as referenced above);
- NOT participate in any Ministry of Education online training or webinars;
- NOT participate in any EQAO-related activities;
- NOT participate in any way in the development of the Math Proficiency Test for faculty of education students;
- NOT complete any surveys/data collection activities (except for what ETFO members deem is necessary for their own reporting requirements, as per PPM 155);
- NOT attend meetings (online or face-to-face) with Ministry of Education Achievement Officers;
- NOT participate in school board activities on Professional Activity (PA) Days – ETFO members will work in their assigned worksites on their own self-directed activities;
- NOT attend staff/division/grade team meetings;
- NOT undertake the role of ‘Teacher in Charge’ (unless remuneration is specifically provided for this role in the local collective agreement);
- NOT participate in school board/school improvement planning activities (BIPSA or SIPSA);
- NOT respond to electronic communications from the school administrator/direct supervisor for non-school-based staff, outside of the instructional day (unless for reasons of personal/student safety, an OT accepting work, or support for students with special needs);
- NOT undertake the role of divisional chair/team lead (unless remuneration is specifically provided for this role in the local collective agreement);
- NOT respond to electronic communications from the school administrator/direct supervisor for non-school-based staff, outside of the instructional day (unless for reasons of personal/student safety, an OT accepting work, or support for students with special needs);
- NOT undertake the role of divisional chair/team lead (unless remuneration is specifically provided for this role in the local collective agreement);
- NOT participate in any school board committee (with the exception of School Council, staffing committees, labour management committees or health and safety committees);
- NOT participate on any school board writing team or in school board curriculum/resource development;
- NOT complete Term 1 Report Cards – teachers WILL provide the school administrator with a class list of marks for the various subjects/strands taught, or one brief comment per frame for the Kindergarten Communication of Learning;
- NOT undertake the role of report card administrator;
- NOT file the Progress Report, the Term 1 Report Card or the Kindergarten Communication of Learning.