Bradford public elementary schools were closed on Monday as part of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario's (ETFO) one day strike affecting the Simcoe County, Waterloo and Keewatin-Patricia school boards.
EFTO staff picketed in shifts throughout the day at Chris Hadfield, Fred C. Cook, Fieldcrest and W.H. Day schools, with plenty of parents showing their support by dropping off coffee and snacks and honking their horns as they drove by.
"In order to increase the pressure on the government and the school boards, we are forced to escalate our job action, some of the additional things that are being struck are extracurriculars outside the school day and field trips. While our students and their families will feel the impact of cancelling these activities in the short term, we are doing this to protect the quality of the education in the long term," said Strike Captain at Chris Hadfield Public School, Amy Stepanek.
But it wasn't just teachers out on the picket lines, there were parents and other members of the community out standing by the ETFO staff, including York-Simcoe's NDP representative, Jessa McLean.
"We're all very eager to show support for the teachers," she said. "As the socialist representation here, I think it's important we support all unions, not just with words and posts on Facebook but physically."
Her and a few other supporters like BWG resident and parent, Mike Walsh made sure to visit every school picketing to show their support.
"It's more than just a sign of solidarity, this is something that affects us directly, and both my kids are young and in school," he said.
Walsh has two children, one who attends W.H. Day for their French immersion program and another in Senior Kindergarten at Fieldcrest. Both were with him and the rest of the teachers Monday morning.
“ETFO is very disappointed that Ford’s Education Minister Lecce has not come back to the bargaining table to negotiate key issues affecting students, student learning and educators,” said ETFO President Sam Hammond in a press release last week.
“Ask any ETFO educator and they will tell you that lack of supports for children with special needs, large class sizes and the violent incidents occurring in classrooms due to lack of supports for students with unique learning needs are the reasons they are willing to go on strike,” added Hammond.
In a statement from MPP Downey: Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte, MPP Dunlop: Simcoe North, MPP Khanjin: Barrie-Innisfil and MPP Mulroney: York Simcoe, the leaders expressed their frustration with the teacher union.
"We continue to stand up against the withdrawl of services to students in Simcoe County and across the province. Teacher union leaders broke their promise to not adversely impact student learning by withdrawing servicrs for our kids, including EQAO math testing, extracurriculars, and report cards."
"We will continue our work with one focus: landing deals that keep students in class."
Early Monday morning, ETFO announced Simcoe County ETFO members will take part in another one day rotating strike next Wednesday Feb. 5, and all members across the province will walk off the job Thursday Feb. 6 if no agreement has been reached.
ETFO represents 83,000 elementary public school teachers, occasional teachers and education professionals across the province.
