Thursday, December 6, 2012

Government Will Allow One Day Teacher Strikes

The Ontario government will not block planned one-day walkouts by public elementary teachers starting next week.

Education Minister Laurel Broten says she won't use a new law to stop the strikes, because the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario is giving parents three-days notice of the walkouts.

So long as the strikes last only one day, she says she's prepared to let it go.

Broten says if the strikes moves beyond one day, the government will immediately reassess the situation and has already prepared the necessary legal documents to end it.

Broten says she knows it will be an inconvenience to parents, but it's a decision that strikes the right balance.

The teachers' union said the walkout is in protest of Bill 115, which gives the government the power to stop strikes and impose a collective agreement if it doesn't like what the union and local boards negotiate.