Ontario labour board dismisses teachers’ union challenge of school plan

 

TORONTO -- Ontario's labour board has dismissed a challenge of the government's back-to-school plan launched by the province's four major teachers' unions.

The unions alleged that Premier Doug Ford's plan does not follow the province's own workplace safety laws and asked the board to intervene.

In a joint statement, the unions say today they are deeply concerned with the ruling, which they say was made on jurisdictional grounds without having heard their evidence.

The unions had asked the labour board to establish provincial standards on issues like class size and distancing, cohorts for students and teachers, masking, ventilation and busing.

A spokeswoman for Education Minister Stephen Lecce's said the province's back-to-school plan has been endorsed by Ontario's chief medical officer of health.

The Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association, and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation launched the challenge in August.