KITCHENER

Ontario Catholic teachers plan one day province wide strike

Jeff Pickel CTV News Kitchener Videographer

Published Thursday, February 27, 2020 6:43PM EST

A vacant desksa are pictured at the front of a empty classroom is pictured at McGee Secondary school in Vancouver on Sept. 5, 2014. School districts in British Columbia are scrambling to hire an unprecedented number of teachers ahead of the new school year to adhere to reinstated class size standards. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)

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KITCHENER -- The Ontario English Teachers’ Association announced Thursday that they are planning a one-day, province-wide walkout next week.

The strike is planned for March 5.

This comes after signs of hope last week when the union cancelled rotating strikes because the two sides were called back to the bargaining table.

According to OECTA, the province was unwilling to negotiate.

"Instead of coming to the table with a plan to reach an agreement, the government continued to insist on its deep, permanent cuts," says Liz Stuart, President of OECTA.

"All the while, the Minister of Education has continued his attempts to mislead the public, by making baseless accusations against Catholic teachers and our Association, and by peddling the inaccurate claim that enhancements to our benefits plan is the sticking point in bargaining," she adds.

No new talks between the union and province have been announced.