There will be no job action by teachers in the St. Clair Catholic District School Board before the Christmas break.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA) received a "no-board" report Thursday which puts teachers in a legal strike position as of December 21.
Local OECTA President and St. Clair Catholic Secondary Unit President Chad Coene said no job action is planned at this time.
"So based on just the calendar timing of when the ministry of labour issued the no-board report, that date for the Catholic teachers in St. Clair Catholic District School Board doesn't happen until December 21 which happens to be the first day of the Christmas break," said Coene. "So parents and students can be assured that there will be no legal job action happening before the Christmas break."
Union members recently gave their bargaining committee a strike mandate by a vote of 97.1 per cent.
OECTA represents 790 permanent and occasional teachers with the St. Clair Catholic District School Board. The no-board report comes a day after high school teachers with public school boards across the province staged a one-day strike to press the provincial government for a new contract.
Coene said OECTA's negotiations are continuing but have slowed down.
"Progress is just not moving at a pace that we would hope that they would be, so in the regular labour negotiations process this is the next step in moving towards a potential job action. It doesn't mean that there is going to be a strike, it's just the next step if that's a potential path you might have to go down."
Coene said OECTA has two more days of bargaining this week, and two more days next week and they always want to be optimistic that a fair deal can be reached.
-With files from Stephanie Chaves
