The threat of a provincial public high school teachers strike, is now a reality.
The OSSTF announced at the stroke of midnight Tuesday, that its 60,000 teachers and education staff would walk the picket lines for a single day, to protest the lack of movement in contract negotiations with the province.
The president of the union that represents Ontario's public high school teachers had said late Tuesday night that unless a deal was reached by midnight ``the odds are sadly slim'' that a one-day teacher's strike can be averted.
Harvey Bischof, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, says the Ford-government did not put forward any constructive proposals through the negotiation process on Tuesday.
The union announced last week that teachers could walk off the job on Wednesday in order to turn up the pressure during tense labour negotiations with the Progressive Conservative government.
The teachers are already conducting a work-to-rule campaign and say they are pushing back against government plans to increase class sizes and introduce mandatory e-learning
courses.
Bischof says a one-day strike is ``nothing'' compared to the possible damage that can potentially be wreaked to the education system through these new government proposals.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce asked the union to call off the strike plans, saying his bargaining team had presented a new ``framework'' to the union in a bid to keep all parties at the table.
While Lecce contends the union has not moved off its demand of $1.5 billion in wage compensation, Bischof countered with a number closer to $200 million over three years.
Sadly, the @Sflecce bargaining team chose not to meet with us in the days leading up to our strike deadline. Our one-day job action will occur. #OSSTF education workers & teachers will be back in schools Thursday, we remain ready to negotiate. #onted #onpoli
— Harvey Bischof (@HarveyBischof) December 4, 2019
with files from Newstalk 1010