TORONTO, ON – Recycled money and not enough new funding to improve school safety and supports for students: according to the union that represents 55,000 education workers in Ontario, these are the two major takeaways from the provincial government’s announcement yesterday of the 2021-22 Grants for Students Needs (GSN). Leaders from the Canadian Union of…
Every year, on April 28, we pause to mourn and recognize workers who have been injured and killed on the job. And while we remember we also understand the fundamental importance of the political work of fighting for the living by redoubling our efforts to demand real safety for workers and the communities that rely…
Renfrew, ON – Casual employees at Renfrew County Catholic District School Board delivered a strong “Yes” vote today, becoming the newest members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). “It is important for casual workers to get the same protections as full and part-time workers,” said Marc Lafrance, a CUPE representative who is involved…
WHITBY, ON – All education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) at Durham District School Board (DDSB) have now concluded local bargaining. The last group, made up of educational assistants and outdoor education instructors, ratified a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on Sunday morning, just days after the group had requested a…
WHITBY, ON – Durham District School Board (DDSB) has put its students’ education at risk of needless disruption with its offhand dismissal of the issues that are deeply important to dedicated educational assistants and outdoor education instructors who support students with special needs, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the union that represents…
Responding to today’s announcement by Minister of Education Stephen Lecce about the postponement of March break, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) Laura Walton gave the following comment: “We made it clear to the Ford government that CUPE education workers wanted to keep March break intact. Staff and students have had…
TORONTO, ON – Ontario’s Ministry of Education has flatly refused to give a school board-by-school board breakdown of the number of education workers hired with COVID-related funds, prompting the union that made the inquiry to cast further doubt on the Ford government and its claims that it is doing everything possible to protect students in…
TORONTO, ON – CUPE leaders expressed shock but not surprise at the findings in the Toronto Star’s investigation into the ‘watered down’ strategies that the Ontario government used to keep COVID-19 out of schools. Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU), gave the following comment: Thanks to the Star’s investigation,…
TORONTO, ON – Even in the current emergency shutdown in Ontario, thousands of students continue to go to school and continue to be supported by education workers. To protect everyone’s health and safety, the union that represents 55,000 education workers is calling on the provincial government to implement some straightforward measures that will lower the…
Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) released the following statement in response to the Ontario government extending virtual learning: “The last-minute announcement to extend virtual learning betrays lack of planning by the government, which has yet to formulate a safe back-to-school plan despite being nearly a year into the…
