Class Action: How Ontario’s Elementary Teachers Became a Political Force

[...]historic divisions between men's and women's elementary teachers' organizations worked to galvanize women but resulted in reactionary responses from the men's union, which reduced militancy in both unions. According to Hanson, the 1973 teachers' strike became a political act that brought all five teachers' unions together for a common cause. Hanson provides a decisive analysis of the Harris government's neoliberal agenda, especially Bill 160, the Education Quality Improvement Act, which scaled back and removed many of the gains teachers' unions had struggled to achieve. Because of Bill 160, teachers across Ontario took to the streets to protest, which worked until the Association des enseignantes et enseignants franco-ontariens which translates as Franco-Ontarian Teachers' Association (aefo), fwtao, and opstf announced they would be seeking a way to end the strike.