Teachers striking out at government
Article content
Approximately 175 teachers representing several schools from across the area, including Tillsonburg, Straffordville, Port Burwell and Norwich, hit the pavement Thursday morning to protest the Ontario government’s Bill 115, Putting Students First Act.
“We’re just trying to educate people about the importance of Bill 115 and just letting them know that it has a major impact on democracy in Canada and in Ontario especially,” said Melissa Hughes, area captain for the Tillsonburg family of schools and one of the organizers coordinating the protest on Thursday. “We’re just trying to educate people on what we’re fighting for.
We believe that they’re taking away our right to collectively bargain - so that’s why we’re here,” she said.
Teachers with the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO), wearing black t-shirts bearing a logo ‘stronger’ together and carrying signs than read ‘Negotiate Don’t Legislate’, began picketing in front of Annandale Public School in Tillsonburg Thursday morning. The one-day strike had teachers walking up and down Tillson Avenue, beginning at 8 a.m. and was wrapped up by noon.
During the protest Thursday morning, passerby’s honked horns and several others came out to show their support for the striking teachers.
“We’ve had some parents stop by and drop off treats for us and there’s been lots of honking. We’re out here until 11:30 a.m.”
Hughes said that teachers were protesting Ontario’s Bill 115 not just for themselves but for their students and for future generations as well.
“We want to make sure students get the best education possible and we believe that we should have some input on what that looks like,” explained Hughes. “That’s what we’re out here for.”
Earlier this week many high school students across the province also took to the streets to protest the provincial government’s Bill 115 and show their support for their teachers.
“I think it makes us proud – we teach our students about democracy and history in the high schools and it’s nice to see that they’re understanding that that’s what this is all about,” said Hughes noting that despite their differences with the McGuinty government, teachers are trying to minimize the negative impacts of any job action taken by many across Ontario in recent weeks.
“We’d rather keep the students out of it as much as we can. Unfortunately, this is the only way that we can voice our rights and our concerns right now,” Hughes concluded.