BARRIE -- Ontario's teachers and education workers are ramping up strike action to pressure the government with the announcement of a province-wide walkout at every public school next week.
Nearly 200,000 teachers and education staff will walk off the job at almost 5,000 schools to protest the government's funding cuts to education on Fri., Feb. 21.
This marks the first time all four major education unions will join forces by striking on the same day, effectively closing classrooms to more than two million elementary and secondary students.
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The one-day walkout includes members of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO), the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA) and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF/FEESO).
Tomorrow, ETFO members will hit the picket lines in our region, including Simcoe County District, Bluewater, Penetanguishene Protestant, Trillium Lakes and York Region school boards. The union representing French teachers also announced it would start weekly, province-wide strikes Thursday.
