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Ontario’s public elementary teachers will ramp up their work-to-rule campaign today as they continue contract talks with the government.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario says educators will not plan any new field trips or distribute letters or memos from schools and boards.

The union says it is introducing the new phase of its job action to increase pressure on the government because of the slow pace of negotiations.

Meanwhile, the union representing the province’s public high school teachers is planning a one-day strike in nine school boards on Wednesday.

That job action follows a province-wide strike last week that shuttered every public high school and some elementary schools.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce has called on the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers’ Federation to enter third-party mediation in a bid to reach an agreement.

Ontario’s high school teachers

The president of the union representing Ontario’s high school teachers says there is almost no chance to avoid a one-day strike set for Wednesday.

Harvey Bischof says the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation and the provincial government have not met this week to continue contract negotiations, making the job action likely.

The one-day strike will close schools across nine school boards including the Toronto District School Board, the largest in the province.

It follows a province-wide strike last week that shuttered every public high school and some elementary schools.

Bischof says Education Minister Stephen Lecce is ratcheting up rhetoric around the tense talks instead of engaging in constructive bargaining.

The minister urged the union to call off the strike and sit down with a third-party mediator in a bid to reach an agreement.

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