As the union representing tens of thousands of school support workers in Ontario vows to hold a province-wide day of protest on Friday, the Waterloo Catholic District School Board says it is prepared to implement online learning.
On Monday, the school board said should a strike involving Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) memebrs occur, schools will be closed to in-person attendance, and students will be moved to remote learning.
“Given such a large number of potentially absent staff, should a strike occur, it will not be possible to safely open and operate our schools,” the school board said in a news release.
Locally, over 1,200 CUPE members are in multiple roles in WCDSB schools.
“This week, you will be asked to complete a brief survey to indicate any technology device needs your children may have,” the school board said. “Devices will be provided to students who need them in advance of any school closure.”
Job action could begin on Friday if a new collective agreement isn’t negotiated with the provincial government.
In response, the province is planning to table back-to-work legislation for education workers on Monday.
In a statement Sunday, Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) said the possible interruptions would not impact the day-to-day experiences of students, schools, or transportation.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) does not have any employees who work for WRDSB.
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Education Minister Stephen Lecce preventively tabled legislation on Monday afternoon which will "terminate any on-going strike" by the Canadian Union of Public Employees and instead impose a new four-year collective agreement on the approximately 55,000 members represented by the union.
But in a news conference held at Queen's Park following the tabling of the "Keeping Students in Schools Act," CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn promised that school support staff still intend to walk off the job on Friday.
"On Friday, regardless of what this legislation says our members will be engaging in a province-wide protest. That means no CUPE education workers will be at work. Instead, we will be taking a stand for public education for ourselves and for our future,” he said. "Our union and others have been effective in challenging governments in the courts and we won but all too late for workers. Enough is enough. We may in fact challenge this in court but we are first going to challenge it in our communities. We are not going to allow our rights to be legislated away."
Also on Monday, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) issued a statement attributed to Karen Littlewood, OSSTF/FEESO president, announcing solidarity with CUPE members.
“Today, the Ford government announced heavy-handed legislation that imposes a four-year contract on the Ontario School Board Council of Unions’ (OSBCU) 55,000 Canadian Union of “Public Employees (CUPE) education workers, effectively undermining and disrupting their rights to free and fair collective bargaining,” the news release said. “OSSTF/FEESO, representing more than 60,000 members across Ontario, stands in solidarity with CUPE’s Members and their goal of negotiating a fair deal. The Ford government has taken away these workers’ constitutional right to bargain for improved working and learning conditions.”
With files from CTV Toronto.
