Friday’s strike to close nearly 5,000 schools

The four major education unions are planning a one-day walkout on Friday.

Members of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) and Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO) will be on strike.

Nearly 200,000 teachers and education workers will hit the picket line, impacting around 5,000 schools. This solidarity strike is the first of its kind in over 20 years. 

Contract negotiations between the province and unions are at a standstill. The key sticking points continue to be classroom sizes, funding for special education, mandatory online courses and maintaining full-day kindergarten.  

The strike will close all schools within the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB), Catholic District Schools Board of Eastern Ontario (CDSBEO), Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario (CEPEO) and Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (CECCE). 

The OECTA is set to follow in the footsteps of ETFO by launching rotating strikes next week. The CDSBEO will be impacted on February 28 if a deal is not reached with the province. The union says it’s heading back to the bargaining table on Wednesday.