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“Children’s lives are being negatively affected… schools are increasingly dirty and activities that are important to students and parents… are not taking place,” Wynne said. “This cannot go on.”

If no deal is reached or all job actions are not stopped by November 1, Wynne said the province would give school boards permission to take disciplinary measures. Measures like cutting paycheques would require five days’ notice.

Arbitrary dates and threats do not help in the bargaining process

“Arbitrary dates and threats do not help in the bargaining process,” Hahn said following the meeting.

Hammond said after the meeting his union won’t respond to threats or bargain in the media. He also said his members will withdraw from all extracurricular activities — not just on Wednesdays as it currently the case — next week if a deal isn’t reached by Wednesday. But despite the lines drawn by both sides, he said “the meeting was fine” and he was “happy to hear the premier has mandated eight straight days of bargaining” in the lead up to that November 1 deadline.

The meeting comes just days after it was revealed the province paid other teachers’ unions a total of $2.5 million to cover their negotiating costs in deals reached with OSSTF Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) and the French-teachers’ union AEFO, earlier this year. Chased by reporters as he left Wynne’s office, Elliott dodged questions about the $1 million his union alone received.

“When it comes to the cost of bargaining… it’s always been on the table when it comes to compensation packages… it’s been part of the process as long as I’ve been doing this and it’s really nothing new,” Elliott said.