Ontario teachers protest wage freeze

More than a hundred thousand teachers rallied on Wednesday to protest Ontario’s new Bill 115.

The new law is freezing their wages and banning strikes, says the Star.

Sam Hammond, president of Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, put in place a protest that he named “McGuinty Mondays”, starting next week.

The concept is one where teachers are asked by their union not to attend any in-school meetings or meetings with the school system or ministry officials on Mondays.

Hammond also asks them to focus on students and take a pause with regards to their extracurricular activities.

On the other hand, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation said its members would withdraw extracurricular services only on Wednesday and wear black clothes or armbands.

Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty has increased teachers’ compensation by 25 per cent since 2004.

He said in defense of his move that the government has no choice but to belt-tighten as it struggles with a $14.8-billion deficit.