Area high schools with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and the Conseil des écoles catholiques du centre-est (CECCE) will be closed today as a result of a one-day strike by members with the Ontario Secondary School Teacher's Federation (OSSTF).
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Members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation picket outside Sir Wlfrid Laurier Secondary School as part of a one-day strike on Wednesday. FRED SHERWIN PHOTO |
Teachers at Sir Wlifrid Laurier secondary School, Cairine Wilson Secondary School and Gloucester High School will all be on the picket line today for a one-day strike as part of a series of weekly one day strikes by members of the OSSTF.
Meanwhile, office staff, educators and support staff at French Catholic school board high schools who are members of the same union will also be taking pat in the one-day strike.
It is the fifth one-day strike since Dec. 4 when talks between the provnce and teacher's unions became demonstrably more contentious.
Teachers were angered when the government announced that average high school class sizes would increase and four e-learning courses would be mandatory for graduation. The government has since scaled back those proposals, but OSSTF president Harvey Bischof has said it's not enough.
The province is also offering the teachers a one per cent salary increase, but the teacher's unions want a two per cent hike.
Ontario's English Catholic Teachers Federation (OECTA) plan to hold a similar one-day strike across the province next Tuesday, Jan. 21 that will affect both elementary and high school students.
Members of the OECTA started a work to rule campaign earlier ths week during which they will no longer take part in preparations for EQAO testing, prepare report cards, or take part in Ministry of Education activities.
The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, which represents public board elementary teachers, and the province's French language teacher's federations plan to start a work to rule campaign in the coming days.
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