One week after announcing the province’s public elementary school teachers voted 98% in favour of strike action, their union now says its 83,000 members will legally be able to walkout November 25.

That’s because the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has received the Ministry of Labour’s so-called ”no-board” report that starts the 17-day countdown toward a legal strike date.

However, ETFO president Sam Hammond says the focus the next couple weeks will continue to be on reaching a new contract with the province.

The ”no-board” report was granted the day after the Ford government brought in a new law that caps all public sector wage increases to one-percent-a-year for the next three-years. 

Teachers unions, that are all in contract talks with the province, are preparing to challenge the law in court.