As negotiations with the province continue to stagnate, Ontario English-language Catholic teachers will join their publicly-funded school colleagues in staging a strike ballot in the fall.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) said in a statement late Monday afternoon that the Doug Ford government has “failed to demonstrate real interest in engaging in meaningful discussions.”
“We’ve reached a tipping point in the bargaining process.” “For more than a year, Catholic teachers have been bargaining with representatives of the Government of Ontario and Catholic school boards with the goal of realizing a fair, negotiated agreement that supports all students, educators, and families,” wrote President René Jansen in de Wal.
“While the government is telling one story publicly, the reality at the bargaining table is quite different.”
The scope of negotiations, according to OECTA, has not been completed nearly 15 months into the bargaining process, and solutions presented by them have been “rejected out-of-hand.”
The province-wide strike vote is scheduled for October 18 and 19, according to OECTA. For over a year, teachers have been without a contract.
