Classes cancelled for Durham public high school students as teachers strike begins

Thousands of public high school students in Durham Region will be staying home Monday as a teachers strike goes into effect.

The strike comes after talks between the teachers’ union and the Durham District School Board fell apart over the weekend.

“Since we cannot ensure the safety of students during a secondary teachers’ strike, we have no choice but to close all Durham District School Board secondary schools to students as of April 20, 2015,” the school board told parents in a notice posted to it website. “Please do not send your teen to school during the strike.”

As of Monday, all regular programs for grade 9 to 12 students will be cancelled, school buses for affected schools will not run and all extracurricular activities, filed trips and school events are cancelled, the school board said.

The school board also announced several other measures while the strike is in effect:

• Community use of schools permits will continue at all DDSB schools and the Education Centre.
• Parents of students with special needs who have community-based case coordination are encouraged to contact their coordinator or agency to inquire about supports similar to March break or summer holidays.
• Parents / guardians using daycare services located in DDSB secondary schools are asked to contact their provider regarding arrangements for dropping off and picking up children in the event of picket lines.
• Students can continue to participate in community volunteer hours provided the activity meets the established criteria and is pre-approved by the school administration.

School board, union blame each other

On Sunday the union representing Durham secondary school teachers accused the DDSB of “refusing to negotiate” while the board slammed the union for walking away from the table.

On Saturday the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation Local 13 announced that their members would walk off the job on Monday after negotiations with the board failed to secure an agreement.

Speaking with CP24 on Sunday, union president Dave Barrowclough said he wants to return to the bargaining table on behalf of his members but only if the board changes its approach and commits itself to negotiating rather than dictating the terms of a new contract.

“This strike is the result of our board refusing to negotiate. We told them across the table that we are here and if we cut a deal we won’t need to strike and they just refused to do that,” he said. “We are willing to come to the table but we can’t come to the table and just sit there and do nothing. I am pretty confident that any one of our members in my place yesterday would have made the same decision and said ‘Look this isn’t going anywhere. We might as well tell people right now that on Monday we will be out on the picket line.’”

OSSTF Local 13 represents about 1,550 high school teachers and 500 occasional teachers, all of which will walk the picket lines at 22 Durham Region schools on Monday.

Though there is no timetable for when talks between the board and OSSTF Local 13 will resume, the Chair of the Durham District School Board told CP24 that he is “more than willing” to go back to the table.

“Certainly we want to come back to the table and utilize the experience of the conciliator in working towards an agreement,” Michael Barrett said Sunday morning. 

Other teachers could also strike

Though Durham Region secondary school teachers are the first to walk off the job, they may not be the last.

As part of new legislation, the OSSTF has been negotiating with the province on behalf of local unions as talks simultaneously continue between union locals and their school board.

Last week, however, negotiations at the central table hit an impasse and the OSSTF threatened to withdraw services at six other school boards including Peel, Halton, Ottawa-Carleton, Waterloo, Rainbow and Lakehead.

According to OSST President Paul Elliot, the major issues of contention in Durham and elsewhere in the province concern classroom resource issues such as class sizes and the time allotted for face-to-face interactions with students.

“We haven’t even talked about money at the table,” he said. “I think we are just trying to protect working conditions and learning conditions in the schools.”

The teachers strike in Durham Region will affect about 24,000 students.

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