Contract talks between Ontario's public elementary teachers and the provincial government will re-start Wednesday.
The announcement came Monday just minutes before an ETFO news conference at which the union said it would unveil plans for "escalated" strike action after March Break.
ETFO's first vice president Karen Campbell says a mediator's invitation to the bargaining table came less than an hour before the news conference.
In previous talks earlier this year, ETFO said it was close to an agreement on several key issues, but that the government negotiators changed positions at the last minute.
Campbell says if no deal is reached this time around, ETFO members will stage rotating strikes starting March 23. While the union promises these walk-outs will be different than ones seen in recent weeks, they refused Monday to say how.
"For us to go into details really, it undermines what we're trying to achieve which is what we achieved today--a pressure point for this government to take it seriously," Campbell said.
ETFO is promising to stick to a requirement to give parents and school boards at least five days notice of a strike.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce made concessions on two major issues last week, though largely affecting secondary teachers, and has said the ball is now in the unions' courts.
While Lecce made a verbal commitment tied to funding of special education and vulnerable students, ETFO wants to see what the government puts on paper at the negotiating table.
ETFO is also planning to send flyers to every home in Ontario to counter what it calls Lecce's
"misinformation" on education.