OSSTF/FEESO Durham Teachers Ready to Strike

WHITBY, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 8, 2015) - The Teacher and Occasional Teacher Bargaining Units in OSSTF/FEESO District 13, Durham, will begin legal strike action on Monday, April 20 if local collective agreements are not reached with the Durham District School Board.

"Our members have been extremely patient given the expiry of their collective agreements in August of 2014. The demands of their jobs have done nothing but increase while the employer refuses to address their concerns in any meaningful way at the bargaining table. Our members' patience is now wearing thin," said Dave Barrowclough, District President.

OSSTF/FEESO Vice President Harvey Bischof, Chair of the District 13 negotiating team, said, "We will work hard to avoid a work stoppage and negotiate a fair and reasonable agreement with the Board. But our members' frustration is growing and they have given their bargaining team a strong mandate with the strike vote taken in the fall. The Board's complacency and indifference to our interest in renewing our collective agreement has done nothing but exacerbate our concerns."

"A wholesale change in the employer's approach will be required to prevent a full withdrawal of services. At this point, we continue to hope they respond appropriately," concluded Bischof.

OSSTF/FEESO, founded in 1919, has 60,000 members across Ontario. They include public high school teachers, occasional teachers, educational assistants, continuing education teachers and instructors, early childhood educators, psychologists, secretaries, speech-language pathologists, social workers, plant support personnel, university support staff, and many others in education.