Education Workers Set to Strike on Monday

Wednesday, 2 October 2019 10:05

CUPE announced this morning that the 55,000 educational workers in Ontario are giving an official strike action notice. If a deal is not reached, the employee's will go on strike on Monday.

OXFORD COUNTY - About 55,000 education workers will hit the picket lines on Monday if a deal is not reached with the Province.

CUPE announced this morning that they have given an official strike notice at that contract talks have completely broken down. The support staff includes Early Childhood Educators, Educational Assistants, Custodians and Clerical staff. This impacts all 63 school boards in the Province. This will also impact anyone who relies on before and after care at the school. Parents have already been notified to find alternative care starting on Monday.

Parents have already received the following email from the Thames Valley District School Board.

"We have been officially notified by The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) of a full withdrawal of services effective Monday, October 7. CUPE staff includes educational assistants, early childhood educators, school and central clerical, technical support (IT), custodial and maintenance. We continue to evaluate the situation and will provide updates related to operations of schools as they become available. At this time, parents and guardians should be considering alternate arrangements for childcare for next week. Schools remain open for the rest of this week (September 30 to October 4). Thames Valley District School Board."

Meanwhile the work to rule job action is already starting to have an impact in Oxford County.

The Thames Valley District School Board announced this week that all Community Use/Facility Rentals for the week are cancelled due to work-to-rule action. Permit holders will be notified by Community Use of Facilities. Permits will be assessed on a weekly basis and updates will be posted to www.tvdsb.ca. Schools are often used in the evenings for a variety of drop in programs for things like basketball, volleyball, yoga and other activities for adults.

Heart FM has also heard from a few concerned parents that the school doors are not being locked during the day because of the Work to Rule. Starting in 2013, all school doors are to be locked during the day for safety reasons. Apparently, monitoring the door is an extra task for the clerical staff and they are not performing those duties right now. Several schools have posted notes on the doors to inform you of this change. Some parents are worried about the safety aspects of having these doors left unlocked.