Kathleen Wynne would legislate striking Ontario teachers back to work

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says she would introduceback-to-work legislation for teachers, if that's what it takes toget high school students in three boards back to class.

More than 70,000 students have been kept from class for weeks ashigh school teachers strike in the Sudbury-area Rainbow District,Peel Region and Durham Region where that strike is in its fifthweek.

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Wynne says the best way to put an end to the strikes is throughnegotiated settlements, but in the meantime, she will "takewhatever action" she needs so kids get back to school as quickly aspossible.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board is considering an applicationfrom the three school boards to have the strikesdeclared illegal.

The school boards argue that the local strikes are really oncentral issues, such as class sizes, and the jobactionsareallbeing "orchestrated" centrally by the Ontario Secondary SchoolTeachers' Federation.

The government has also asked a separate arm of the labour board to consider whether the students' school years arein jeopardy.