There was cautious optimism being expressed on local picket lines Thursday as Ontario English Catholic and French language teachers staged another one-day province-wide strike.
The strikes went ahead shutting down St. Clair Catholic and French schools despite the provincial government announcing this week it was backing off on average high school class sizes and mandatory online courses.
Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) St. Clair Catholic Secondary Unit President Chad Coene said the union is at the bargaining table Thursday.
He said they want to see the government put their latest proposal in writing.
"Definitely we are optimistic, but at the same time, we've sort of seen this before, and so we'd much prefer, instead of Minister Lecce announcing things from a podium, it would be far more helpful if these things were put in writing at the bargaining table," he said. "It's just basic collective bargaining 101, you don't typically bargain in the media, and we certainly haven't been doing that, but he needs to put those things into writing, and I'm hopeful that if that were to happen then we would certainly be getting closer on the issues."
Catholic teachers with the St. Clair Catholic School Board picketing on The Rapids Parkway.
Coene said a number of issues are still on the table.
"There's the protection of full-day kindergarten, which is a crucial piece, the e-learning has been a stumbling block because we don't believe that mandatory e-learning serves students well at all, and obviously compensation is going to be a piece, but I can tell you right now, teachers are not on this picket line over anything related to compensation or benefits."
Public high school teachers at nine school boards also walked off the job Thursday as part of their union's rotating strikes. Lambton-Kent schools were not impacted.
Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said Thursday that he's offered all teachers' unions federations a fair and reasonable plan that should pave the way to agreements.
"The government has consistently made reasonable moves -- effectively freezing classroom sizes, a parental opt-out for online learning, a commitment to full-day kindergarten, and one hundred per cent investment in special education," said Lecce. "The time for a deal is now, I urge the unions to stop this disruptive escalation and return to the table to get a deal that is fair for parents, students, and educators."
