Education Minister Liz Sandals says she is “disappointed” the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario has decided to take a break from negotiations to review some outstanding issues.

Talks resumed last week between the province and the union, which represents 78,000 public elementary school teachers across the province, and Sandals says while some of the major issues were resolved, there are still issues to work through.

“Although we were prepared to work through the weekend, the ETFO has advised they need some time to consult on the remaining issues. They have not indicated when they will return to the bargaining table,” Sandals said in a written statement released Saturday.

“This is disappointing given the job action they are currently engaged in and the disruption it is causing for students.”

In a a statement released Saturday, ETFO President Sam Hammond said the union did not, however, suspend talks today.

“ETFO was prepared to bargain today if OPSBA and the government could develop a revised proposal addressing our concerns. Although we waited all day, they were not able to do that," Hammond continued.

“We are prepared to give OPSBA and the government some time to work on a revised proposal and we are more than willing to be at the negotiating table next week to review that revised proposal and continue bargaining.”

Hammond accused Sandals of making misleading statements to the media.

“This is the nature of bargaining and it is not helpful to have the Minister of Education making statements to the media that portray the process as other than what it is,” he said.

The union has been ramping up its work-to-rule campaign in recent weeks and the current terms of the job action prevent teachers from responding to emails from administrators unless they concern student safety, updating classroom websites, and holding parent teacher interviews unless there is a concern about a child’s progress.

Teachers are also being told not to take part in activities outside the classroom, including field trips and pre-school breakfast programs.

Sandals has also asked the union to call off their job action while they are away from the bargaining table.

“We hope that ETFO will recognize the urgency of the situation and return to the table,” the statement continued.