“Ontario public elementary school teachers set to begin rotating strikes on Monday – Province offering up to $60 a day to parents during strike”
Source: CBC – Toronto
Date: Jan 15, 2020
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/etfo-public-teachers-strike-1.5427368
The article discusses the intention and current outcomes of the Ontario teacher strike. The teachers believe the current provincial government policies are not only unfair but counterproductive to students. The Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce attempted to counteract the effects of the strikes by providing families with subsidization in an effort to be “proactive”. The teachers union representative Sam Hammond responded to this by saying “it is just a tactic to bribe parents”. The school districts effected are the Toronto District School Board, Simcoe Country District School Board, Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board, Trillium Lakelands District School Board, Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board, Rainy River District School Board, Near North District School Board, Grand Erie District School Board, and Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board. The article states that the cost of the subsidization program is about $48 million dollars a day and an average day of teachers’ salary is about $60 million dollars. Hammond suggests that the province should take that money and invest it in the future of education.
This article is a great example of a work and employment relations issue because it shows the use of a union to represent employees when confronting management about not providing an adequate working environment (http://www.alrb.gov.ab.ca/faq_mediation.html). Although the government has compromised on parts of the original policy, they have not come to an agreement on certain demands that the teachers union want and say they need. The teachers union states that the new government’s policies of limited support workers (i.e. nurses and administration), increased class size and mandatory elearning courses in secondary schools will impede their ability to teach. In elementary schools, the government is not addressing key issues about preserving full-day kindergarten, students with special needs, or the violence in schools today.
I personally can resonate with this topic and article because a teacher strike occurred at my high school in Brampton Ontario that forced me to be out of school for about a month. Although this was irritating because it impacted my education, looking back I realize that the teachers were fighting a better education for everyone. Seeing the impacts that the teachers strike is having today on teachers, the government, students, and their families makes me sympathetic for all the parties involved. The best way to address this issue is through mediation with a third neutral party that can guide the agreement while considering both parties (http://www.alrb.gov.ab.ca/faq_mediation.html). Finding a third party that is neither invested in the provincial government or public school education can be difficult, most often people are usually biased about both because they are affiliated with both.
In the past, studies have shown that CBC network attracts people who self identify as left-wing, more so than people who self identify as right-wing (LilleyMore, 2019). Therefore, because we currently have a conservative provincial government led by Doug Ford, the article may be biased towards the teachers union. In order to determine a more concrete way to address the problems discussed in this article, the topic would need more representation of the government’s reasons behind their actions.
Literature Cited:
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.alrb.gov.ab.ca/faq_mediation.html
LilleyMore, B., & Lilley, B. (2019, October 20). LILLEY: CBC still won’t sue Liberals, time they admit their bias. Retrieved from https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-cbc-still-wont-sue-liberals-time-they-admit-their-bias
Rachel's Blog 
Hi Rachel,
I really enjoyed reading your perspective on the outstanding issue of public education teacher strikes. I agree that these situations are irritating, and stressful for us as students and outsiders but at the end of the day teachers are fighting to make education better. I too, did my blog post on this issue, and I found it to be pretty crazy that the government is actually reimbursing parents up to 60$ per kid on strike days to cover or help with their childcare expenses. Some people think that the government is just trying to bribe parents- do you agree?
I agree that an effective way to overcome this issue is to mediate with a third neutral party, however I do think there would be a hard time finding someone to mediate as the majority of Canadian citizens have been through the education system at some point in their lives. I also found it to be interesting that you identified who the CBC network attracts in terms of political views, thus determining how they write their articles. This never crossed my mind to have been an issue with an article and opened my eyes to all articles that I do read now!
Good job!
Emily
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Hi Rachel,
Thank you so much for this well-written and informative blog post! I really enjoyed reading this take on the Ontario teachers’ strike and how you personally resonate with the topic. I feel as though I can also relate to the topic of education strikes, although this time concerning post-secondary, as some of my good friends were seriously affected by the York University strike which happened in 2018. This strike was 143 days long and is the longest strike in the post-secondary sector in Canadian history. They also faced a lot of criticism of York’s handling of the strike, as they refused to bargain with the union for a period of time. I definitely think in this case mediation with a third neutral party that can guide the agreement was definitely necessary, although a measure not taken soon enough. It would be smart not to let this strike reach the level in which York University faced. I too would be interested in hearing more representation of the government’s reasons behind their actions in the case of the Ontario teacher strike as well. Overall, a very engaging post!
Melanie
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Hi Rachel,
Great blog post, I too chose to write my blog post on this ongoing issue, as I remember similar strikes occurring when I was in high school. I think as you mentioned the article did a good job of highlighting the disagreements between the teachers and provincial government. Although, I feel as though the article should be updated on a regular basis to reflect the ongoing updates in the negotiation process. I think that the teachers union discussed in this article demonstrates the power of collective action on part of the employers and their ability to challenge the decisions made by management. I don’t know that this article is biased towards the right or left, when I read the article, I felt more as though the journalist was just presenting the facts from both sides, but biassed journalism is something we should always be looking out for!
In terms of solutions, I think there is enough precedent between the teachers union and the Ontario government to show both sides that compromises are needed from both groups. It may be wishful thinking on my part, but I hope that both sides could return to the negotiation table and find an amicable solution that benefits both parties, failing that I think you might be right that arbitration may be necessary.
Since this strike and disagreement is also so public and affects most families in Ontario, I think it’s important to consider public opinion, when trying to find a solution. And I think as of right now, the teachers recognize that parents generally agree with them and think that the proposed changes to the education system are dangerous to the future generations of students. With that in mind, I think the government should look for ways to seriously consider public opinion and the demands of the teachers, when they return to the negotiation table.
Great Post 🙂
Brett
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