ONTARIO – Members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike. The results of their strike vote were made public on Monday, Nov. 18.
Members voted 95 per cent in favour of a strike mandate.
“This is a powerful mandate from our members, and it sends a compelling message,” said OSSTF/FEESO President Harvey Bischof. “Our members are committed to defending the quality of education in Ontario against a government that is determined to undermine it, and they are absolutely prepared to defend their ability to provide the best possible learning environment for the students they work with.”
“They are also telling us, quite emphatically, that they are losing patience with a government that refuses to engage in meaningful discussion about major issues that affect the quality of learning in their schools,” continued Bischof. “We gave our notice to bargain almost seven months ago, but we are still waiting for even one meaningful, serious response to our key proposals that address the quality of publicly funded education.”
While the strike mandate has been approved, OSSTF say that the will not be starting job action just yet.
“We are at the bargaining table today and not on the picket line as we could have been. This is a choice we made for this week because we remain committed to looking for solutions through negotiations. I sincerely hope the Ford government seeks the same and isn’t intent on creating additional unnecessary conflict,” Bischof concluded.
