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Ontario’s elementary teachers will vote in November on whether they are willing to strike as negotiations over new education contracts remain stalled.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario says it will hold an online strike vote for its approximately 84,000 teacher and education worker members from November 9 to 18.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association has also scheduled a strike vote in November, saying it wants to send a message to the provincial government that meaningful progress is needed at the bargaining table.
The current education contracts expired at the end of August, but negotiations for new agreements have stalled over which issues should be negotiated centrally and which should be handled by local unions and school boards.
The major education unions are awaiting a ruling from the Ontario Labour Relations Board on that issue.
The unions had asked the provincial government to begin bargaining earlier this year, but negotiations did not begin until June.
