Ontario’s four teacher unions are filing formal appeals with the labour relations board over the Ford government’s back-to-school plans.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) and The Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO) announced their intention to file the appeals in a press release issued on Monday morning.
In it, they argued that the Ministry of Education’s plans for the resumption of in-person instruction “does not take every reasonable precaution to protect workers” as required by the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
“The anxiety Ontarians are feeling around reopening schools is directly related to the government’s lack of leadership and their haphazard, incomplete planning,” OECTA President Liz Stuart said in the release. “The Premier and the Minister of Education say they will do everything possible to make sure schools are safe. All we are asking is that they make an honest, exhaustive effort to follow through on this promise.”
The government has allowed school boards to dip into the reserve funds to hire additional teachers with the aim of reducing class sizes though many boards, including the Toronto District School Board, have said that it will not be possible to ensure at least two metres of physical distancing in all of its classrooms this fall.
That has led to concerns from union leaders about the potential spread of COVID-19 within schools once in-person classes resume.
The unions, which represent 190,000 education workers across Ontario, say in the release that they are seeking specific standards “around physical distancing, cohorting, ventilation, and transportation” but have largely been ignored by the Ford government.
News that teachers will take up their case with Ontario’s Labour Relations Board comes just a few days after Premier Doug Ford said that his “patience was running thin” with the unions and that they had to “get with the program.”
At a press conference on Monday afternoon Ford doubled down on those comments, saying that the unions “just like to fight.”
“They just want to fight with everyone but I don’t want to fight with you,” Ford said, addressing union leadership directly. “I want your cooperation like every single person in this country has been cooperating, except the teacher unions.”
Ford said that his government has done “everything” it can to create “the safest environment possible” in schools, including funding the hiring of additional teachers and improvements to ventilation systems.
He said that at this point he is “begging” the unions to just work with his government.
“We have basically covered every single list and I am basically asking just once for your cooperation,” he said.
Most Ontario schools are scheduled to reopen in the next few weeks, though some boards are staggering the return of students so that not everybody returns at once.
The first day of classes in TDSB schools is scheduled for Sept. 15.
