It has been a frantic and confusing morning for Ontario parents in the wake of a labour board decision issued at 4 a.m. ET that says a planned walkout by elementary school teachers would be illegal.
Some school boards had issued notices Thursday saying classes would be closed regardless of the ruling, but by Friday morning, most had declared that their schools would be open.
The situation was particularly difficult for students at Toronto District School Board schools. At 6:10 a.m., TDSB board chair Chris Bolton told CBC that classes were cancelled, only to reverse that decision 10 minutes later.
Education Minister Laurel Broten appeared Friday on CBC News Network, and said, "I understand that for Ontario families, this is a challenging morning."
Broten recommended that parents check the websites of their local school boards to ensure classes in their area are open.
"The decision about what happens locally is made by boards."
The situation played out differently across the province as each board made its own decision about whether or not to open schools in light of the labour board ruling.
The following boards decided not to hold classes Friday:
- Greater Essex District School Board.
- Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
- Algoma.
- Renfrew.
- Keewatin-Patrica.
- Rainy River.
- Lakehead.
- Superior-Greenstone.
Broten said she's pleased the OLRB ruling made it clear that any strike action by teachers would be illegal.
Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, ordered his members to comply with the ruling shortly after it was issued.
"We had hoped for a very different decision, obviously," he said.
The OLRB decision came just a few hours before thousands of educators were due to stage one-day walkout to protest the Liberals' decision to impose two-year contracts under a controversial anti-strike law.
But the ruling was reached after a marathon 12-hour hearing that stretched into the wee hours of the morning.
The OLRB ruling may alter the fate of a similar walkout planned for Jan. 16 by the union representing high-school teachers.
Under Ontario's labour laws, engaging in illegal strike activity can carry a penalty of up to $2,000 per person and up to $25,000 for a trade union.
ETFO and other supporters argued during the hearing that it wasn't a strike, but a political protest protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Government lawyers, who asked for the cease-and-desist order, countered that any withdrawal of services would be illegal, as the teachers were no longer in a legal strike position once the contracts were imposed.
ETFO tried to have the matter deferred to the courts, saying Bill 115 stopped the board from declaring the legislation unconstitutional, while the courts were under no such restriction.
'Our hands tied'
The government "basically created the rules and put us in a ring with our hands tied," said lawyer Howard Goldblatt, who represented the union.
A court decision would take more time, said government lawyer Robert Charney. And a speedy resolution on whether the action was illegal was necessary, otherwise it would give the unions "carte blanche" to engage in further protests.
But Goldblatt's arguments didn't sway board chairman Bernard Fishbein, who declined his request.
On Thursday, the planned protest drew sharp condemnation from Ontario's outgoing premier.
Dalton McGuinty said many public elementary and high school teachers don't want to follow their unions' edict to walk out of the classroom.
Angry educators protesting outside Liberal leadership debates aren't a "good sampling of teacher opinion," he said after touring a greenhouse in Newmarket, north of Toronto.
"My sense is that most teachers want to be in the classroom, and they want to be participating in extracurricular activities as well," he said. "I mean, that's why they got into teaching in the first place."
'Let's get back to work'
The unions had accused McGuinty of provoking the scheduled walkouts by using a law they say is unconstitutional to force two-year contracts on 126,000 teachers and education workers.
ETFO said the majority of their members voted for a one-day protest, but had no plans for other walkouts.
McGuinty said he didn't believe teachers want to get into legal trouble, no matter what the unions say.
"I believe many of their teachers are saying, 'OK, McGuinty's put in place this Bill 115, we have contracts that are in place for the next couple of years. Let's get back to work,"' he said.
Teachers can protest before or after school, on the weekend, or on a statutory holiday, McGuinty said. Just not during school hours.
On Jan. 3, Broten imposed contracts on public school teachers and education workers, which cut their benefits and froze most of their wages to battle the province's $14.4-billion deficit.
She promised to repeal the law — which four unions are challenging in court — by the end of the month.
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