The school year may be over, but the teachers and school boards are still hard at work trying to make a deal to end a tenuous job action.
The job action started earlier this year when the provincial government imposed new measures that would increase class sizes, as well as place new rules about how teacher prep time can be spent. So far, teachers have only taken part in an administrative job action that left report cards unfinished, and administrative meetings unattended.
While the meetings held in the local districts are yielding some results, the provincial talks are not going as well
“There has been little or no movement at the central table, although ETFO provincial has indicated that it ready to return to that table at any point” said Craig Smith, President of the Thames Valley ETFO. Smith says that while it may be disappointing that no talks are occurring provincially, it is the local negotiations that really matter.
“The local agreements are absolutely critical to the whole process in moving forward, so that’s why we have felt…that it’s important to keep that conversation going”
Smith could not predict whether or not the job action would end before the school year but did say that a walk-out would be very unlikely
