Ontario elementary and high school teachers kick off work-to-rule campaigns
(The Star Food)

More than 140,000 public elementary and secondary teachers have officially started their work-to-rule in Ontario schools.While students will remain largely unaffected — save for no comments on any upcoming report cards — families may have noticed elementary teachers entering school together on Tuesday morning.The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario had requested that members — who also include early childhood educators in some boards — to take part in a “solidarity action” and meet out front of their school and head in en masse 15 minutes before the bell.Meanwhile, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation said its members will hold information pickets either before or after school, or at lunch — handing out pamphlets to parents and members of the public, but not students.The elementary teachers’ union said this first phase of the job action “is intended to put the government’s feet to the fire so it will negotiate deals that acknowledge the professionalism of ETFO members, are good for students and support Ontario’s world-class education system.”President Sam Hammond said the union “wants the Ford government to work with us on important issues but, so far, it has not shown much interest in doing that. Our members are getting impatient, and they are taking strike action because it seems to be the only way to get this government’s attention.”He said while the education minister has said only a few issues remain, “that is not the case. We are very far apart on many substantive items that affect both ETFO members and student learning environments.”The union has said the Ford government wants to strip $150 million from elementary education, including teachers and supports for special needs students. Hammond has also raised concerns that the government has so far refused to commit to the current staffing model for full-day kindergarten.In a statem ...