The Toronto Elementary Catholic Teachers’ union says it has decided to pause plans for full withdrawal of service and classes at Toronto’s Catholic school board will continue as expected on Monday.
In a statement posted to social media, the union said that the decision is a “show of good faith” and a result of constructive dialogues with the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
Earlier today, the school board said it is seeking information on how many of their elementary schools will be forced to close due to the planned strike on Monday.
On Tuesday night, Toronto’s Catholic elementary teachers handed the board formal notice of their plans to conduct a full strike at one or more schools on Jan. 31 if a tentatixjmtzywve agreement is not reached beforehand.
If the job action was to take place next week, teachers would have not reported to work and full school closures would have taken place as a result, the board said.
The board said that the strike is tied to two key issues. One relates to improving staff attendance and the other involves the handling of classroom assignments.
In a show of good faith and as a result of constructive dialogue with the TCDSB, TECT has decided to pause full withdrawal of services. Classes will continue as expected on Monday January 31, 2022
— TECT (@TECT951) January 28, 2022
However, the union said that their members have been without a contract since September, 2019 and the board is using the “cover of the pandemic” to make “regressive demands” at the bargaining table.
