All French-language schools will be closed to students on Thursday.
The Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontarien (AEFO) announced it would be launching phase three of strike action.
All 12,000 regular and occasional teachers who are members will walk out province-wide. This strike is expected to be followed by weekly province-wide walkouts by the union. Previously, they had instilled a work-to-rule mandate, meaning teachers stopped performing certain duties.
That means French-language students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 will be out of class.
The schools to be closed for the day are:
- Algonquin Grades 7-12 (North Bay)
- Christ-Roi (River Valley)
- Élisabeth-Bruyère Grades 7-12 (Mattawa)
- Franco-Cité (Sturgeon Falls)
- Héritage (North Bay)
- Jeunesse Active (Sturgeon Falls)
- L’Odyssée (North Bay)
- La Résurrection (Sturgeon Falls)
- Lorrain (Bonfield)
- Mariale (Thorne)
- Nipissing Ouest (Sturgeon Falls)
- Saint-Joseph (Sturgeon Falls)
- Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin (Astorville)
- Sainte-Anne (Mattawa)
- Sainte-Marguerite-d’Youville (Verner)
- Saints-Anges (North Bay)
- St. Raymond (North Bay)
- St. Vincent (North Bay)
AEFO president Remi Sabourin says this is the first time since the inception of French-language boards in 1997 that AEFO has held strikes to this level.
The union and province have been trying to negotiate a new deal, but the talks have broken down. Schools will reopen on Friday.