All four of the major teachers' unions in Ontario hit the picket-lines Friday leaving about two million students out of class.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Assocation (OECTA), Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO), Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) and the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO) launched a province-wide strike.
Locally, public elementary and secondary teachers with the Lambton Kent District School Board marched outside the education centre on Wellington Street.
April Brander, a teacher at Great Lakes Secondary School and 2nd Vice President of OSSTF District 10, said the mass provincial walkout is a historic show of solidarity.
Striking Catholic teachers in Sarnia Feb. 21, 2020 BlackburnNews.com photo by Josh Boyce)
"All four teachers' unions in the province out striking on the same day in a massive show of support for these protests because we need to stop these cuts from the Ford government," said Brander. "The polling numbers consistently show that the public is with the teachers and they do not want these cuts to education. We need to stand strong and we're hoping for that watershed moment where the pressure is built up on the government and they realize even the people who voted them in do not want these cuts to go forward."
Brander said the message to Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce is to get back to the bargaining table and take the cuts off the table.
In a news release, Lecce claimed parents are losing patience with the disruption in their lives, and he called on union leaders to accept private mediation to end what he calls needless escalation of job action.
Talks between the province and the unions representing Ontario's English Catholic teachers and those in the French system resumed earlier this week.
Striking French language teachers in Sarnia Feb. 21, 2020 BlackburnNews.com photo by Josh Boyce)
Catholic teachers locally picketed outside St. Patrick's High School Friday while French language teachers rallied at Ecole Les Rapides.
The unions said it’s the first time they have all conducted job action on the same day since they protested cuts to education by the government of then-Premier Mike Harris.
-With files from Josh Boyce and Dave Dentinger
