Labour board decision on teachers' strike expected next week

High school students with the Rainbow District School Board who have been out of class since the end of last month because of a teachers' strike will have to wait until the middle of next week to find out whether the walkout is against the law.

The Rainbow Board, along with school boards in Durham and Peel, applied to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) last week to have the strike declared unlawful.

The boards argue the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation has gone on strike at a local level over issues that can only be resolved at a provincial level.

Arguments wrapped up Thursday at the OLRB hearing. OLRB chair Bernard Fishbein said he hoped to have a decision by the middle of next week.

If the school boards win their appeal, they've asked that a moratorium on strikes until students have at least had the time they have missed restored to them.

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said she might introduce back-to-work legislation, "if that's what we have to do."