The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has provided the provincial government with notice that they intend to withdraw their services and go on strike beginning November 4 if a tentative contract cannot be reached.
To keep students, families and community members informed on how current collective bargaining affects them, the Greater Essex County District School Board has activated its Labour Updates page on its website – www.publicboard.ca.
In the GECDSB, CUPE is the bargaining group for approximately 600 employees including secretaries, clerks, custodians, maintenance workers, couriers, information technology technicians and media services.
Everyone across all GECDSB school communities are advised to monitor this page for the latest information.
The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board is also providing to give parents the latest information on the board’s plans during the labour dispute.
Parents are asked to monitor www.wecdsb.on.ca/about/labour_updates
For the latest news.
CUPE represents about 400 employees of the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board.
On Monday, the Ontario government has introduced legislation which, if passed, would ensure that students remain in class by imposing their final offer on the various sides involved.
In a statement from the WECDSB read “At this time, the government and CUPE are still scheduled to continue bargaining on November 1-3. We remain hopeful that a settlement can be reached prior to the deadline and that a strike or legislation imposing a contract can be averted.”
In the event that CUPE goes on strike on Friday “we will communicate directly with students and parents about our contingency plans in advance. We will continue to provide updates as they become available.”
CUPE, which represents approximately 55,000 workers, says that they will be off the job Friday despite pending provincial legislation banning them from doing so.
The Ford government plans to invoke a nonwithstanding clause that imposes a contract on the CUPE members, a proposition the union said it is prepared to fight.
“Because CUPE refuses to withdraw their intent to strike, in order to avoid shutting down classes we will have no other choice but to introduce legislation, which will ensure that students remain in-class to catch up on their learning,” said Ontario’s education minister Stephen Lecce in a statement released earlier this week.
CUPE says if the legislation passes and it’s illegal to strike, members will stage a province-wide ‘political protest’ on Friday.
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