Public high schools in Mississauga set to close for one-day strike

Public secondary schools in the Region of Peel (Brampton, Mississauga, and Caledon) will be closed for a one-day strike next week if an agreement is not reached beforehand. 

On Thursday, Feb. 13, education workers and teachers represented by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) in certain school boards will take part in another one-day walk-out in selected locations across Ontario.

The following boards, including the Peel District School Board (PDSB), will be affected:

• Algoma District School Board
• Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board
• Superior-Greenstone District School Board
• Greater Essex County District School Board
• Avon Maitland District School Board
• Peel District School Board
• District School Board of Niagara
• Limestone District School Board
• Renfrew County District School Board

A limited withdrawal of services (work-to-rule) across all boards, which has been in place since November, will continue province-wide.

OSSTF President Harvey Bischof says the union will postpone pending job actions if the government agrees to return to, and maintain, the class size ratios and staffing levels that were in place in Ontario schools during the 2018-2019 school year.

“We continue to take an approach designed to raise awareness of the issues while causing minimum disruption to learning,” said Bischof in a statement. “Sadly, our measured approach stands in stark contrast to the almost-daily stream of inflammatory statements and disinformation from the Minister of Education.”

Other unions, including those that represent both Catholic school and public elementary school teachers, have also been participating in one-day, rotating strikes. 

The strikes are taking place during fraught negotiations with the province.

Stephen Lecce, the Minister of Education, says that unions are asking for unreasonable pay raises. 

The PDSB says that all secondary schools will be closed to grade 9 to 12 students on Feb. 13. Parents are not required to report their teen’s absence on this day. 

If the one-day strike happens, the following Peel board programs will also be affected:

• Night School will be cancelled.
• All school field trips and extracurricular activities will not take place.
• All Co-op placements, including those taking place off school property, will be cancelled.
• Dual Credit programming will continue. Students in Dual Credit programs are to report to their college locations, as previously scheduled.

Families will be notified if the strike is cancelled.