Ontario’s public elementary teachers’ union will hold a third, daylong walkout next week — and say they will continue until a deal with the province is reached or until a full-out strike is called.

Members of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) will be off the job in a handful of boards on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and without a collective agreement more will be scheduled, the union said in a memo to all 83,000 members Friday morning.

“Unfortunately the phone has not yet rung and there are still no additional dates for contract talks,” the memo said.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce said “it is unacceptable that ETFO would ramp up strike action and make families across the province scramble for child care.”

The province is providing parents with up to $60 a day per child to help cover the cost of daycare, with more than 33,000 families registered so far.

“I will continue to focus on reaching voluntary agreements with the teachers’ unions, so Ontario students stay in class where they belong,” Lecce also said.

At the moment, only the AEFO — which bargains for teachers in French-language boards — has any upcoming talks planned with the government and school boards.

The elementary teachers will target Rainy River (Fort Frances area), Thames Valley (London area) and Rainbow (Sudbury area) on Wednesday.

On Monday, members — who include teachers, early childhood educators and school staff — will be off the job in Ottawa-Carleton, York Region and Toronto public boards, as well as Toronto Catholic.

On Tuesday, the walkout will hit Superior Greenstone (Thunder Bay area), Renfrew, Grand Erie and Trillium Lakelands (Haliburton/Kawartha).

The elementary teachers’ union says the “critical issues” it wants the province to address include smaller classes, better supports for special needs students, a commitment to full-day kindergarten, as well as compensation.

The province is offering a one per cent annual raise — in line with recent legislation capping public-sector wage increases — but teacher unions are seeking cost of living, or about two per cent a year.

Also on Tuesday, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ is staging a province-wide strike, and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation is holding strikes in 13 boards.

The province’s French teachers, represented by AEFO, have just begun a largely administrative work-to-rule.

Teachers are fighting government plans to boost class sizes that will phase out thousands of jobs and limit course options in high schools, and the introduction of mandatory online courses for teens.

Premier Doug Ford’s government has already announced it will spend up to $48 million per day to repay parents for child-care costs during any work stoppage.

The escalating tensions between the province and teachers now means all four unions are engaging in job action for the first time in more than 20 years, from work-to-rule to daylong strikes.

Because Ontario’s teacher unions also bargain for support and professional staff in schools, Catholic, French and public boards can all be impacted by just one union’s job action.

Meanwhile, internal polling done for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation indicates public support remains strong, with about 60 per cent of the 500 surveyed believing the government is on the “wrong track” when it comes to education. Six in 10 said their sympathies lie with the teachers.

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Liz Stuart, president of the Catholic teachers’ association, said the union is only planning its one day of action on Tuesday at this time.

“We are ever hopeful the government will come to the table … (and) rethink their priorities to date,” she said. However, “the reality is, we’re probably looking at having to take further steps.”

Stuart also said she has concerns about the Toronto Catholic board keeping full-day kindergarten classes running on Monday, when early childhood educators represented by ETFO are on the picket lines.

“OECTA members will not be doing another bargaining unit’s work,” she said, adding “some principals and vice-principals are going to be very busy in schools, filling those gaps. We have the model for a reason — two adults in the classroom.”

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