TORONTO -- Ontario's schools appear poised to experience a series of labour disruptions next week, as the province's largest teachers' union announced Friday it's taking further job action and no new talks are scheduled with Premier Doug Ford's government.

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario says it will expand its planned rotating strikes to a third day next week, with teachers walking off the job at the Thames Valley, Rainbow and Rainy River school boards on Wednesday.

ETFO, which represents 83,000 teachers and educational workers, will start the strikes on Monday, shuttering schools in Toronto, York Region and Ottawa-Carleton. On Tuesday, elementary teachers in Grand Erie, Trillium Lakelands, Renfrew, and Superior-Greenstone school boards will walk off the job.

Union president Sam Hammond said Friday that the teachers made new proposals in late December, and he blamed the Progressive Conservative government for stalling talks.

"The government has given no response and made no commitment to return to bargaining talks in 28 days," he said in a statement. "We are urging the minister to get back to the table and discuss the critical issues that parents and educators care about."

All four major teachers' unions are now engaged in legal job actions as contract negotiations with the provincial government appear to have stalled. Only the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens, which represents about 10,600 of Ontario's French system teachers, has bargaining dates with the government.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce has said the province is willing to return to talks with the unions provided they show a willingness to compromise.

On Friday, Lecce said parents are frustrated by teacher union job actions. Earlier in the week, the province announced a compensation program for parents affected by the one-day strikes, and by early Friday, nearly 78,000 had signed up for the funding.

"The immense uptake of our Support for Parents Initiative speaks volumes to the level of uncertainty union-led strike action causes," the minister said in a statement. "It is unacceptable that ETFO would ramp up strike action and make families across the province scramble for child care."

In addition to the job action planned by ETFO, Ontario's English Catholic teachers and the province's public high school teachers also plan to hold one-day strikes on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, AEFO launched a work-to-rule campaign Thursday and said its members will not be completing a number of administrative duties.

Several teachers' unions also appeared at the government's pre-budget consultations at the Ontario legislature on Friday.

The Catholic teachers' union president told the Tory-dominated committee that the government should view its upcoming budget as a way to chart a new course in the education sector.

"This is an opportunity to finally do the right thing," Liz Stuart said after criticizing the government for increasing class sizes and introducing mandatory e-learning.

The teachers' unions have said the two programs remain a major issue at the bargaining table, despite the government making changes to both proposals.

The government maintains that compensation is the largest sticking point in talks, as it attempts to cap teacher wage increases at one per cent.

Stuart said her union will re-assess its position once the secondary school exam period is over before deciding the nature of future job action.

"I have indicated we'll go back to the table any time," she said. "We're awaiting the conciliator to hear whether the government is willing to come back.... (but) the reality is we'll probably have to take further steps."

Harvey Bischof, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, said Tuesday's sixth rotating strike by that union will be its last until after January high school exams conclude. The government must reconsider its positions and get back to the bargaining table, he said.

"The government is dug in," Bischof said. "They've been dug in for a full month now since the last time we met, without a single move."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2020.