French language teachers vote 97% in favour of strike
The union must provide 5 days notice before taking job action
Ontario's French language public teachers have voted 97 per cent in favour of a possible strike.
The Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO) released the vote results Friday afternoon.
"This decisive 'yes' vote shows, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Franco-Ontarian teachers are determined to fend off the government," said AEFO President Rémi Sabourin in a news release.
AEFO represents around 12,000 teachers and support staff at 322 elementary schools and 121 secondary schools across Ontario.
The union says negotiations with the province have been "fruitless," with disagreements over class sizes and mandatory e-learning courses as the two major obstacles at the bargaining table.
AEFO and three other major teachers' unions have also launched a court challenge against the Ford government's plan to cap public sector wage increases.
While union members are now backing a possible strike, AEFO must provide five days notice before taking job action.
A new round of negotiations is scheduled to begin in January 2020.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation has held a series of one-day strikes in December after its members voted in support of a strike.