teachers' strike

The 1997 Ontario teachers' strike was a labour dispute between the government of Ontario under Premier Mike Harris of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PCs), and the Ontario Teachers' Federation (OTF) and its member labour unions. The strike occurred in the context of Harris' Common Sense Revolution, a program of deficit reduction characterized by cuts to education and social services. In September 1997, the PCs introduced Bill 160 (the Education Quality Improvement Act, 1997), which sought to reduce education spending and transfer numerous aspects of school administration from local school boards to the provincial government. In response, teachers participated in a province-wide walkout beginning on October 27, 1997.
The strike was the largest teachers' strike to ever occur in North America at the time, with walkouts by over 126,000 teachers resulting in the closure of nearly all of Ontario's 4,742 public schools. Despite opinion polling indicating that a majority of the public supported the striking teachers, the strike concluded on November 10, 1997, after the leadership of several teachers' unions instructed their members to return to work. The OTF ultimately failed to extract major concessions from the government, and Bill 160 passed on December 1, 1997.

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