Elementary schools will be closed on Monday across the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board.
The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario one-day strikes will hit our communities on January 27th.
High Schools will remain open and exams will take place as scheduled at all Secondary schools.
The rotating strikes are impacting all elementary schools in Thunder Bay today.
The union says it’s now 34 days since their last bargaining session on December 19, 2019.
ETFO President Sam Hammond says they are taking this action because they are disappointed that Education Minister Stephen Lecce has not come back to the bargaining table to negotiate key issues.
Hammond says government negotiators haven’t responded to ETFO’s proposals on supports for students with special needs or addressing violence in schools.
Lecce has framed compensation as the sticking point in negotiations with all of the major teachers’ unions, but Hammond says that has barely been discussed at the bargaining table.
Other key issues include larger class sizes and mandatory online courses.
