Huron educators participate in one-day strike ‘for the kids’

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High school teachers and education support staff in Huron County, along with the rest of Ontario, held a one-day strike on Dec. 4.

Hundreds of Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB) educators and Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) members gathered in Blyth.

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Huron educators participate in one-day strike ‘for the kids’ Back to video

OSSTF threatened to strike unless progress was made in negotiations with the province.

The one-day strike included a full withdrawal of services and union members gathered to picket outside local Conservative MPP and former Education Minister Lisa Thompson’s office.

Locally, the OSSTF represents nearly 1,000 members in positions with the Avon Maitland board. They include teachers, education support staff, counsellors, speech pathologists, mental health lead, ECEs, child and youth care workers, school office clerical staff, and technical support staff.

On Nov. 26, OSSTF announced they would join the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) in a work-to-rule job action. Both ETFO and Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) who voted in favour of a strike in November have yet to take that stance.

Earlier this year the government introduced a number of changes to Ontario’s education system, but the teacher unions have campaigned against the changes from the start.

Local OSSTF members are concerned about how government’s cuts will play out in small, rural high schools.

“We engaged in job actions that were carefully chosen to have no impact on students, but it also seems the actions had little impact on the government to engage in reasonable, meaningful negotiations,” said Shane Restall, the local OSSTF president.

In negotiations with the government for the past few months, the union representing teachers and education workers have been unhappy with the lack of progress being made.

The union stated that the province-wide, one-day strike on Dec. 4 was a necessary step to take while they wait for Lecce to come to the table for meaningful discussions about OSSTF’s priorities.

“It’s a necessary step to take because we are here for the kids. The Minister of Education continues to say it’s about the money. It’s not about the money. It’s about the kids,” said Dayna Lambier, OSSTF President of the Educational Support Staff Professionals for District 8.

Support staff, which includes early childhood educators, work with some of the most exceptional students and put up with violence every day. Yet, these union members remain the lowest paid educators in the system, some even working multiple jobs to make ends meet, she said.

Regardless of inequality of compensation, Lambier said the union members supported the one-day strike because they want what’s best for the children.

“We are hoping that parents realize that we are willing to take the stance. That we are willing to advocate for their student, for their child,” she said.

“Support staff members are willing to take a stand to be heard. We just want the government to pull up their socks and do what’s right for the students.”

In Huron County, it has been estimated that through the government’s proposed cuts and implemented changes to the education system AMDSB will lose 78 teachers from ETFO and OSSTF combined. Just this year, there are 49 OSSTF teachers from AMDSB who are now without a contract or have reduced status.

Additionally, projections show the Avon Maitland school board losing nearly $8.8 million in funding due to cuts. That works out to roughly $375 per student.

“We have one of the best education systems and if we aren’t here to stand up for it and defend it, then who is? We would get walk all over otherwise,” said Lambier.