English catholic teachers were bundled up, clutching hot coffee and waving flags as they walked back and forth in front of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Elementary School on Marshall Ave. this morning.
They were joining teachers in publicly funded Catholic district school boards across Ontario not reporting to work or performing any teaching duties as they continue to fight the Ontario government for a new contract.
The strikers claim public support, as they waved to passing cars honking their approval.
In fact, one parent came by to donate the money given to her from the Ministry of Education to pay for childcare, to the union strike fund.
Sarah Surtees, a grade 7 and 8 French Immersion teacher at St. Theresa in Callander says none of her colleagues want to be outside away from their students.
"The reality is classrooms have become more violent across the province, even in our community where we have classrooms being evacuated. We have tensions escalating and it's becoming a real problem within the North Bay area."
That ties into increased class sizes she says.
"We can't be there for every student the way we want to be when we have too many kids. We all came here to teach. We want to support children, their learning and their futures and it's getting increasingly more difficult to do that. We're hoping with these walkouts the government will listen."
Surtees says overall, they are seeing a supportive public.
"There is always going to be people who don't support what we're doing here, but overall parents have been supportive. We've had lots of honks and waves from people passing by, and some parents from the school send signs of support, both emotional and coffee support because they know that what we are focused on is their children."
Meanwhile, MPP Vic Fedeli in an email to BayToday said, "Teacher union leaders have yet again demonstrated their disregard for parents in this province by directing their members to not show up to work. Union leaders are prepared to stand up for things like higher benefits for their members but appear unable to stand up for the basic expectation that students should learn each and every day."
