500 public elementary school and occasional teachers spend the day rallying around the Lakehead Adult Education Centre as a deal has yet to be reached with the provincial government.
Local Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario President Mike Judge feels their job action is having an impact on the Ford government.
“I think they are feeling it because I know parents and the community are doing a really good job reaching out to MPPs telling them to get this done. Let’s make this clear we don’t want to be out here, we would rather be in our classrooms doing what we do best,” Judge said.
The ETFO isn’t ruling out escalating their job action in the future if a deal isn’t reached.
Judge says although none of his members have complained about their strike pay he knows it’s hurting them in the pocketbook.
“Everyone has mortgages, car payments, things in their lives that cost money. It is a huge pinch when you talk about missing multiple days off of a pay period and there are lots of people where that’s a real strain but they are happy to be out here supporting public education,” Judge explained.
Elementary school teachers will be striking on Thursday at Kakabeka Falls, Algonquin Avenue, Westmount and Edgewater public schools.
