Parents in Waterloo region are expressing mixed emotions after members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) voted in favour of strike action.
On Sunday, the 10-day voting window for strike action closed, with results showing Ontario education workers voted 96.5 per cent in favour of striking.
“I believe that they are the ones doing the most important job in society - they’re building the future of our kids,” said Awanee Pandey, a parent in Waterloo region.
Other parents said a strike shouldn't happen, especially when COVID has already disrupted schools many times.
“Sure, it gets their point across, but the children really get left in the dust. They’ve missed out on so much education now,” said parent Emily Siu.
Some are calling on the province to quickly come to an agreement with CUPE members.
“I hope the government comes to some negotiating table and do something about it,” said Sidhi Verdhan.
CUPE members, including part-time staff, earn an average of $39,000 per year.
“I’m ok with it. I think they deserve equal pay, and if they got to strike, they got to strike,” said parent Kelly Gallant.
Adding: “I mean, it would be nice for them to keep the year straight, so they don’t have to be disrupted again.”
The president of CUPE local 2512, Mechelle O’Hagan, said there are roughly 1,300 CUPE members in waterloo region, all of whom are part of the Catholic school board.
Their roles include administrative assistants, child care workers, registered early childhood educators and educational assistants.
“We want to be in our schools, we want to do our job, we love our job, we wish we didn’t have to fight for the resources in the school,” said O’Hagan.
O’Hagan said the union does not want to strike and is hoping an agreement is met soon.
“Our goal is to let the government know if they can get back to the table and bargain in good faith, so this could not impact anybody,” O’Hagan said.
The Waterloo Catholic District School Board said: “as we move further into a new school year and routines begin to return to more normal times, the WCDSB encourages the government and CUPE to continue bargaining in good faith for the benefit of all students.”
The Catholic board added that their custodians are not members of CUPE, and their service won’t be affected.
Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) said in an emailed statement to CTV News it has no employees who are members of the CUPE bargaining group.
“The Waterloo Region District School Board maintains a great relationship with our union partners and our professional associations. We will continue working with our partners and will keep posted families with any updates if needed," WRDSB said in part.
More than 80 per cent of its 55,000 education worker members voted over 10 days, CUPE said.
The union has its next bargaining dates scheduled with the government on Oct. 6, 7, 17 and 18.
The union has asked for an annual wage increase of roughly 11 percent to address inflation.
