QUEEN’S PARK, Ont. — Education Minister Laurel Broten is blaming union leaders, not the province’s teachers, for the escalating labour dispute which could see some teachers walk off the job this month.

Broten said the unions are focusing more on strike action than reaching a settlement.

“The teacher-union leadership has turned its back on cooperation,” she said Monday. “I say to them, ‘if you want a fight instead of a fix, then take your fight to the courts, but keep the kids out of it.’”

“I am asking the union leadership to choose improvements for the kids over improvements for themselves.”

The union has promised to give 72 hours notice of any strike action, but the Liberals’ Bill 115 gives Broten the permission to put an end to any strike very quickly.

“Our first choice would be to see negotiated agreements and to see our unions participate in that process,” Broten said.

The head of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation will announce the unions next steps on Monday around 3 p.m., which reportedly include one-day walkouts.

Teachers are continuing to vote online, Monday, until midnight, and the Globe and Mail reports the results are expected to be announced Tuesday.

The approximately 76,000 Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) members started casting their electronic ballots on Sunday.

The one-day walkouts would happen between Dec. 10 and 21, the Globe reports.

Broten has threatened to use the tools embedded in Bill 115 – the controversial legislation passed on Sept. 11 that imposed a two-year contract on educators – to block strikes. Bill 115, also called the Putting Students First Act, prohibits strikes or lockouts, freezes teachers’ wages for two years and halves their sick days.

Meanwhile, Ontario’s public high school teachers are expected to outline what’s next for them in protest of Bill 115, Monday, which could include joining elementary teachers in one-day walkouts.