As thousands of teachers from all unions across Ontario strike this week, many parents may wonder if the fatal words “essential service” have yet been uttered in the cabinet. It is one big elephant. The last time the government worked up the gumption to tell certain workers they were just too essential to be on strike was 2011. That was the fate of TTC employees. Teachers across Ontario far outnumber TTC drivers however and any government that wishes to keep some teacher votes has to consider that. Tuesday Ontario’s Catholic teachers hit the picket lines as well as high school and elementary teachers in select boards. Elementary teachers will engage in their second day of ramped up rotating strikes, hitting more school boards per day than they did during the job actions they held over the past two weeks. And high school teachers will strike at the Lakehead, Lambton Kent, Thames Valley, Waterloo Region, York Region, Halton and Kawartha Pine Ridge school boards.
