'Get back into the classroom,' Ford tells teacher unions
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As striking teachers encircled Queen’s Park, Premier Doug Ford said this fight is now about the quantity of compensation and not the quality of education.
“I don’t know what more they want,” Ford told the Ontario legislature Thursday.
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'Get back into the classroom,' Ford tells teacher unions Back to video
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“I know what more they want, and the public knows, because overwhelmingly now you’ve seen the shift. The message to the unions is: ‘The party’s over with the taxpayers’ money. Pack your bags and get back into the classroom.'”
The Ford government announced this week that it would backtrack on its demands for larger classrooms and mandatory elearning high school credits.
The government has not moved on its position that compensation increases, salary and benefits, should be held to 1% a year for three years.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the latest offer should have prompted teacher unions to call off strikes around the province and get back to bargaining to hammer out a deal.
However, planned strikes by English language Catholic teachers, public high school teachers and French-language teachers went ahead Thursday.
The striking education workers also rallied at the Ontario Legislature, their numbers so large they were able to ring Queen’s Park Circle.
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Signs read, “Strikes for Public Education,” No Cuts to Education,” “Reverse the Cuts” and “Negotiate, Don’t Legislate.”
One homemade sign said, “Destroy Education: Vote Ford.”
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) has said it will accept the 1% cap on salary but reserves the right to challenge the compensation cap in court.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) has publicly tabled its position of an annual salary increase of about 2% which it says reflects inflation.
NDP MPP Sara Singh said the offer that Lecce “continues to brag about” would increase the average class size to 23 from 22 and reduce the number of teachers in high schools.
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“That’s 1,000 families that won’t have a job because of this government, thousands of students who will be losing their courses that those teachers teach,” Singh said. “How many more teachers will have to lose their jobs before the government finally does the right thing and takes these cuts off the table?”
Ford said his government is “turning the corner” on education, putting more money in including $200 million on a new math strategy.
“We’re holding the unions accountable for the first time in 50 years,” he said.
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