Teachers start work-to-rule campaigns across Ontario

Ontario public elementary and high school teachers will stop performing some administrative tasks starting Tuesday as part of work-to-rule campaigns.

The strike comes after months of contract talks between the unions and government resulted in little progress.

The teachers’ unions say the campaign will not affect student learning. The teachers will stop performing administrative work including putting comments on report cards, attending certain meetings and participating in standardized testing.

Ontario’s Education Minister Stephen Lecce released a statement on the work to rule campaign and said the government has remained a consistent and reasonable force at the negotiating table.

“I’ve been clear – I want to get deals that keep the children of this province in school. It is regrettable the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) have chosen to escalate to work-to-rule action, only hurting our children,” said Lecce. “This escalation to a partial withdrawal of services, including targeting math supports and report cards, hurts our children the most.”

Lecce said he hopes both sides can reach an agreement so that students can remain in classrooms.