ETFO

ETFO Previous Updates

Update: March 20, 2020

The Ontario Public School Boards' Association (OPSBA) and the government of Ontario have reached a tentative agreement with the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) for both teachers and education workers. The details of the agreement remain confidential until ratified by all parties. ETFO has suspended all job action while awaiting ratification of the deal.letter sent to parents/guardians on February 28 about these strike actions.

Update: February 24, 2020

Today, ETFO announced that teachers and education workers will commence Phase 6 of Work To Rule strike action.

Effective Wednesday, February 26, 2020, ETFO teacher and occasional teacher members will:

do only their scheduled teaching and supervision assignments during their regular instructional time. Teacher and occasional teacher members will not agree to, or participate in, any additions/modifications to their schedule, with the exception of attending meetings to support students with special needs or to discuss student safety.

Effective Wednesday, February 26, 2020, ETFO teacher and occasional teacher members will NOT:

do any coverage for absent members, regardless of the reason for the absence (except in the case of an occasional teacher hired to replace an absent teacher).

accept/disperse students from/to other classrooms when a member is absent, regardless of the reason for the absence.

miss their regularly scheduled planning or preparation time.

spend personal funds to purchase instructional materials or resources for students, the classroom, the school or the board.

upload data related to assessments on board systems. Teacher and occasional teacher members will continue to do assessments using their professional judgement. Members may complete assessments for supports and/or funding for students with special needs or ELL students.

ETFO has indicated that their members will start participating in 20-minute pickets outside their schools for at least one day a week, although they say it will not impact classes. ETFO has also indicated that it will not hold rotating one-day strikes over the next two weeks but is prepared to further escalate its job action on March 9 should no tentative agreement be reached.

For full details on ETFO Phase 6 work-to rule please see ETFO website.

Update: February 12, 2020

Today, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) announced that both unions will be participating in a one-day walkout (full strike) on Friday, February 21, 2020.

As with previous strike days, the TDSB would have no other option but to close all elementary schools (JK-8) and all secondary schools (9-12) to students on Friday, February 21 as there would not be sufficient supervision to ensure their safety. Parents/guardians should make alternate arrangements for their children on this day, if required.

Child care centres located in elementary schools will be permitted to stay open. Please contact the child care provider directly for more information. TDSB Extended Day Programs will also be open to currently enrolled students for a full day of programs. EarlyON Child and Family Centres will operate during their regular hours.

Should the strike continue as planned, all International Languages Elementary and African Heritage classes would be cancelled on strike days only. However, all adult non-credit programs, such as Adult ESL and Learn4Life, will continue to run.

In addition to all TDSB secondary schools, Adult High Schools and Night Schools offering secondary credits will also be closed to students. Secondary e-Learning classes and any out-of-school activities (e.g. field trips, sports, etc.) will be cancelled.

Read the letter sent to parents/guardians on February 12 about Friday's one-day walkout.

Update: February 10, 2020

All TDSB elementary schools (JK to 8) will be closed to students on Tuesday, February 11 and Wednesday, February 12 as a result of strike action by members of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario. TDSB elementary schools (JK-8) will re-open to students on Thursday, February 13.

Parents/guardians should make alternate arrangements for their children on these dates.

Should the strikes continue as planned, all International Languages Elementary and African Heritage classes would be cancelled on strike days only. However, all adult non-credit programs, such as Adult ESL and Learn4Life, will continue to run.

As a reminder, please note that Friday, February 14, 2020 is a PA Day for parent-teacher interviews and Monday, February 17, 2020 is a provincial holiday – Family Day.

Should there be any significant updates or changes to the strikes planned for this week or next week, we will communicate directly with parents/guardians as quickly as possible.

Read the letter sent to parents/guardians on February 10 with more information about the upcoming strike action.

Previous Updates

Update: February 5, 2020

All TDSB elementary schools (JK to 8) will be closed to students on Thursday, February 6 & Friday, February 7 as a result of strike action by members of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario. TDSB elementary schools (JK-8) will re-open to students on Monday, February 10.
Read more.

ETFO has also recently announced strikes for the next week on the following dates:

Tuesday, February 11, 2020 – province-wide strike
Wednesday, February 12, 2020 – rotating strike impacting the TDSB

Read the letter sent to elementary parents/guardians on Feb. 5 regarding the upcoming strike action for more information.

Update: February 5, 2020

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario announced that strike action will continue next week should an agreement not be reached. TDSB elementary schools will be impacted on the following dates:

Tuesday, February 11, 2020 – province-wide strike
Wednesday, February 12, 2020 – rotating strike impacting the TDSB

As with previous strike days, the TDSB would have no other option but to close all elementary schools to students on these days as there would not be sufficient supervision to ensure their safety. Parents/guardians should start making alternate arrangements for their children on these dates.

Should the strikes continue as planned, all International Languages Elementary and African Heritage classes would be cancelled. However, all adult non-credit programs, such as Adult ESL and Learn4Life, will continue to run.

For ongoing labour updates, please visit the TDSB website and follow @tdsb on Twitter.

Update: January 27, 2020

Today, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) announced that, if central agreements are not reached by January 31, its members will conduct a province-wide strike (full withdrawal of services) on Thursday, February 6, 2020. In addition, ETFO also announced the details of rotating strikes that will continue at a number of school boards next week. ETFO members will strike at the TDSB on Friday, February 7, 2020 if an agreement is not reached.

Should the walkouts take place, the TDSB would have no other option but to close all elementary schools to students on Thursday, February 6 and Friday, February 7 as there would not be sufficient supervision to ensure their safety. Parents/guardians should start making alternate arrangements for their children on these dates. More information will be shared with parents/guardians shortly.

Should the ETFO walkout take place, all International Languages Elementary and African Heritage classes would also be cancelled. However, all adult non-credit programs, such as Adult ESL and Learn4Life, will continue to run.

Read the letter sent to parent/guardians regarding the announcement of further strikes.

Update: January 21, 2020

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has announced that, should there not be progress in negotiations, its members will conduct a one-day strike (full withdrawal of services) at a number of school boards, including the TDSB, on Monday, January 20, 2020 and return to work on Tuesday, January 21, 2020.

Should the walkout take place, the TDSB would have no other option but to close all elementary schools to students as there would not be sufficient supervision to ensure their safety. Parents/guardians should start making alternate arrangements for their children on this date.

Childcare centres located in elementary schools will be permitted to stay open. Please contact the childcare provider directly for more information. TDSB Extended Day Programs will also be open to currently enrolled students for a full day of programs. EarlyON Child and Family Centres located within TDSB elementary schools will be closed.

Read the letter sent to parents/guardians regarding ETFO's one-day walkout announcement for more information.

Update - January 21: As ETFO teachers will not be entering marks, learning skills and/or comments electronically as a result of the job actions, the TDSB is not able to produce Term 1 report cards or the Kindergarten Communication of Learning for elementary students. Read the parent/guardian letter regarding term 1 report cards for more information.

Update: January 9, 2020

Today, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) announced the details of Phase 3 and Phase 4 strike action that will begin should an agreement with the Province and OPSBA not be reached.

Phase 3

Effective Monday, January 13, 2020, all ETFO members will:

NOT plan or participate in any assemblies, except to provide supervision to students;
NOT participate in extracurricular activities except for those that are scheduled within the regular school day;
NOT participate in field trips;
NOT arrive at work any earlier than 30 minutes before the start of the instructional day for students (or for hourly paid ETFO members, not arrive any more than 30 minutes before the start of the scheduled work day); and
NOT remain at the worksite later than 15 minutes after the end of the instructional day for students (or for hourly paid ETFO members, not remain later than 15 minutes after the end of the scheduled work day).

The sanctions included as part of Phase 1 and Phase 2 Work-to-Rule Strike Protocols will continue.

Phase 4

Effective Monday, January 20, 2020, all ETFO members will:

NOT participate in any District School Board or Ministry professional learning.

ETFO also announced that if no agreement is reached by January 17, 2020, effective January 20, 2020, ETFO will commence a full-withdrawal of services strike on a rotating basis. If this full withdrawal of services takes place, the TDSB would have no other option but to close all elementary schools to students as there would not be sufficient supervision to ensure their safety.

Additional information, including the specific impact to programs and services, will be shared with parents/guardians in the coming days.

Update: December 6, 2019

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) announced today that, in addition to the Phase 1 Work-to-Rule Strike Protocol currently in place, its members will begin Phase 2 on Tuesday, December 10, 2019.

ETFO’s Phase 2 Work-to-Rule Strike Protocol includes, but is not limited to:

Not planning any new field trips scheduled to occur before June 30, 2020
Not collecting monies or participating in the electronic collection of monies for school-based activities except those for charitable causes
Not distributing any memos/letters from a school and/or school board

A full list of ETFO’s Phase 2 work-to-rule sanctions is available online.

As this job action continues to be a partial withdrawal of services and not a full strike, elementary schools will remain open and instructional programs will continue. However, should the work-to-rule progress to include further sanctions, it may have a more significant impact on school activities, permits and school operations. If there is a full withdrawal of services or a full strike by elementary teachers, the TDSB would be required to close schools as there would not be a sufficient number of staff to supervise students and ensure their safety.

As a result of the job action, principals and vice-principals in our schools will continue to take on additional tasks. We appreciate the patience and understanding of parents/guardians during this time.

We will continue to update parents/guardians with new information as soon as it becomes available. For ongoing updates, please continue to check www.tdsb.on.ca/labour and follow @tdsb on Twitter.

At this time, negotiations between ETFO, OPSBA and the Ontario government continue and we are hopeful that an agreement can be reached soon.

Update: November 14, 2019

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) announced today that phase 1 work-to-rule strike action will begin on Tuesday, November 26, 2019. According to ETFO, “the action targets Ministry and school board administrative tasks and does not impact on students.”

The work-to-rule directives include, but are not limited to:

Not participating in any EQAO-related activities
Not completing Term 1 Report Cards
Not participating in any school or Ministry of Education professional learning offered outside of the instructional day

A full list of ETFO’s Phase 1 work-to-rule protocols is available online.

During this phase of work-to-rule, schools will remain open and instructional programs will continue to run. However, should the work-to-rule progress to include further sanctions, it may have a more significant impact on school activities, permits and school operations. We will continue to update parents/guardians with new information as soon as it becomes available. For ongoing updates, please continue to check this page and follow @tdsb on Twitter.

At this time, negotiations between ETFO, Ontario school boards and the Ontario government continue and we are hopeful that an agreement can be reached soon.

Update: November 8, 2019

ETFO Receives No-Board Report

The Ministry of Labour has released a no-board report for the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO). ETFO will be in a legal strike position as of Monday, November 25, 2019 if an agreement is not reached. Negotiations between ETFO, OPSBA and the Ontario government continue.

Update: November 2, 2019

ETFO Requests No-Board Report

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) notified OPSBA and the Ontario government that they have requested a no-board report. This means that ETFO will be in a legal strike position 17 days after the no-board report is issued. At this time, ETFO, which represents elementary teachers at Ontario school boards (including the TDSB), has not indicated that strike action (partial withdrawal or full withdrawal of services) will begin. Negotiations between ETFO, OPSBA and the Ontario government continue.

Update: November 1, 2019

Members of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) which represents elementary teachers at Ontario school boards (including those at the TDSB) has voted in support of taking job action if there is no agreement on a new contract.

It is important to note that despite this strike vote, it does not necessarily mean that job action/partial or full withdrawal of services will be taken by elementary teachers.

Update: October 17, 2019

ETFO is in contract negotiations with representatives of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA - representing Ontario’s public school boards, including the TDSB) and the Ontario government.

ETFO has also begun the process of taking a strike vote across the province. The federation is asking its members whether they are supportive of elementary teachers taking strike action if there is no agreement on a new contract. Voting by its members is expected to be completed by November 1, 2019. It is important to note that a strike vote of its members does not necessarily mean that job action/partial or full withdrawal of services will be taken by elementary teachers.

As was reported on October 16, 2019, ETFO has applied to the Ministry of Labour to appoint a conciliator (a third-party person to act as a mediator) to assist the parties with central negotiations. As part of the conciliation process, ETFO could choose to ask for a “no board report”. If this request is granted, it is possible that ETFO could be in a position to take strike action by the third to fourth week of November, if there is no agreement on new contracts.

Contract negotiations among ETFO and public school boards and the Ontario government are on-going. A tentative agreement on a new contract was reached with CUPE and we are hopeful that a new contract can be negotiated with OSSTF and all other school board employee groups.