A rotating strike by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) will hit the Rainbow District School Board and the local French public and French Catholic boards Friday, Feb. 28.
As of Friday afternoon, statements about Feb. 28 school closures had not yet been issued by the Rainbow board or the two local French boards, Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario and Conseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l'Ontario.
OSSTF represents high school teachers at the Rainbow board and certain education workers with the two French boards.
A strike by all four teachers' unions that closed all publicly-funded schools in Ontario took place Friday, Feb. 21, just the latest in a series of rotating strikes and work-to-rule actions by Ontario education workers.
In a press release, OSSTF president Harvey Bischof repeated the union's standing offer to postpone pending job actions if the government agrees to return to, and maintain, the class size ratios and staffing levels that were in place in Ontario schools during the 2018–2019 school year.
“Doug Ford and his Minister of Education continue to claim that they are laser-focused on keeping students in class,” said Bischof, in the Feb. 21 press release.
“Yet, for more than two months now, they have simply ignored our repeated offer to do just that by postponing pending strike actions.
“Despite their hollow claims, the Premier and the Minister are focused on one thing only: their careless, dangerous agenda of larger classes, mandatory e-learning, and fewer supports for the most vulnerable students.
“It’s time for the Premier and the Minister to listen to the people of Ontario, abandon their campaign of disinformation, and negotiate, in good faith, an agreement that is good for the students of Ontario.”
