OTTAWA -- Ontario's English Catholic teachers say they'll be walking off the job again next week.
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA) is planning to hold a one-day, province-wide strike Thurs., March 5.
OECTA had been called back to the bargaining table last week, and had suspended strike activity after participating in a joint strike by all four teachers' unions.
But the union says the government didn't budge in the contract talks.
"Instead of coming to the table with a plan to reach an agreement, the government continued to insist on its deep, permanent cuts," OECTA President Liz Stuart said in a press release.
Earlier this week, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said OECTA had insisted on enhancements to benefits, which obstructed progress.
The union denies that was the case.
"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," Stuart said. "Our Association remains committed to the goal of reaching a fair agreement at the bargaining table. However, we cannot tolerate the Ford government’s penchant for misinformation and mistruth, nor its efforts to dismantle publicly funded education."
This will be the fourth one-day walkout by English catholic teachers since their job action began in mid-January.
