In a real-world civics lesson, elementary students joined their parents and teachers in protest ahead of the morning bell at Dovercourt Public School Thursday – calling on the premier to reconsider a cap to wage hikes for their teachers.

“Don’t let Doug Ford make these cuts,” cried out one student into a megaphone.

Educators are among the public sector workers who will have their salary increases capped at 1 per cent a year for three years, according to new legislation tabled by the provincial Progressive Conservative government.

The government announced the cost-cutting measure Wednesday as it works to eliminate an $11.7-billion deficit.

“We’re heading back to the Mike Harris days, no question about it, where workers across the province were being attacked,” decried Unifor National president Jerry Dias Thursday, calling a one per cent wage hike “ridiculous” relative to the rate of inflation.

But, the premier insisted a wage hike cap was better than the alternative of mass public sector layoffs.

“We had a choice,” said Ford in the legislature. “A choice of giving everyone a two-, three-, four-per cent increase - or laying off thousands of people.”

“We decided to make sure we went that road, instead of the road of laying people off.”

The wage hike cap will apply to more than a million public sector workers, including office workers, hospital staff and provincial police officers.

“What the premier is really doing is deliberately picking fights and causing chaos - and Ontario families are the ones who are going to pay the price, in their hospitals, in their communities, in their kids’ classrooms,” said Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath.

“We’re not picking a fight,” insisted Pickering-Uxbridge PC MPP and President of the Treasury Board Peter Bethlenfalvy. “We’re supporting the frontline workers of all of Ontario.”