About 150 teachers from the Lester B. Pearson School Board picketed outside the Valois Train Station in Pointe Claire Wednesday afternoon to protest against lagging contract talks with the government.

The teachers say that talks have stalled largely because government negotiators have not been empowered to negotiate for real, as every back and forth goes through the provincial Treasury Board.

The government wants to hike the teachers' work week from 32 to 35 hours and remove the five of the 32 hours that teachers were given for personal time, which they could use for assessments and corrections.

“It’s stripping of rights acquired over the last 20, 30 years," said teachers’ representative John Donnelly. “Some people are talking strike but that’s early now, we still have a long way to go.”

The government is seeking cutbacks in special needs students and they also hope to raise class size. The government wants to raise salaries by three percent over five years with no hikes for the first two years and one percent in each of the three following years.

Donnelly said that the situation threatens morale.  “You want a motivated staff teaching your child, they have to have decent working conditions at a salary level that’s decent as well,” he said.

Teachers start at about $38,000 can go up to $75,000 after about 15 years.