“Ontario’s school boards are in severe crisis”: Survey of 12,000 CUPE education workers finds extreme underfunding and understaffing has caused widespread violence, burnout and lack of supports for students in Waterloo-area schools

School Boards

WATERLOO, ON – A recent survey of Ontario education workers including Educational Assistants, Early Childhood Educators, Child and Youth workers, custodians, maintenance and trades workers, and school secretaries represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) shows that a severe crisis in underfunding has led…

“Ontario’s school boards are in severe crisis”: Survey of 12,000 CUPE education workers finds extreme underfunding and understaffing has caused widespread violence, burnout and lack of supports for students in Sarnia-area schools

School Boards

SARNIA, ON – A recent survey of Ontario education workers including Educational Assistants, Early Childhood Educators, Child and Youth workers, custodians, maintenance and trades workers, and school secretaries represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) shows that a severe crisis in underfunding has led…

Underfunding, understaffing plague Trillium Lake District School Board: 88% of CUPE employees at TLDSB say staffing must increase to meet the needs of students, 78 percent say there is a violent incident at work at least once a month

Education, School Boards

LINDSAY, ON – Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) recently announced an $8 million surplus for the 2023-2024 school year, reporting that it was in a “good position to make positive impacts on student achievement and well-being,” yet workers say extreme underfunding and understaffing has created an unsafe learning environment plagued with violence for students…

Northeastern Catholic District School Board workers vote to join CUPE

School Boards, Solidarity

TIMMINS, ON – Workers across various municipalities in northeast Ontario are joining CUPE after a successful union organizing campaign across the Northeastern Catholic District School Board. Approximately 200 new members from Cochrane, Cobalt, Kapuskasing, Timmins, and more are joining CUPE Local 4681 and CUPE’s 55,000 education workers across Ontario. “This is a great step towards…

Sudbury Catholic District School Board workers vote to join CUPE

School Boards, Solidarity

SUDBURY, ON – Sudbury Catholic District School Board workers are joining CUPE after a successful majority vote and certification at the Ontario Labour Board. The approximately 270 new CUPE members at Sudbury’s Catholic District School Board include educational assistants, early childhood educators, administrative assistants, social workers, speech pathologists, chaplaincy leads and more. “I am thrilled…

CUPE Ontario celebrates new leadership, new energy and renewed hope at the OFL

OFL, School Boards, Solidarity

On behalf of 290,000 CUPE members in the province, CUPE Ontario extends its warmest congratulations and steadfast solidarity to the newly elected leaders of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL): President Laura Walton, Secretary-Treasurer Ahmad Gaied, and Executive Vice-President Jackie Taylor. Our affiliation to the OFL commits CUPE members’ collective support to this strong team…

Transphobic Bigots Vandalize Education Workers’ Union Offices in London

Education, School Boards

CUPE education workers are committed to stopping hate, misinformation, and transphobia; call on school boards, premier, and education minister to denounce attacks on students’ right to education and support fundamental freedom not to be discriminated against. LONDON, ON – Last night, all three frontline education workers’ local union offices in London were vandalized by transphobic…

CUPE Local 1939 custodians and maintenance workers reach tentative agreement with Keewatin-Patricia District School Board

School Boards, Solidarity

KENORA, ON – The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1939 workers’ bargaining committee has reached a tentative agreement with the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board on custodians and maintenance workers’ local terms and conditions for the period of September 2022 to August 2026. CUPE education workers voted to ratify their local agreement on June…

Crossing guards losing their jobs not amused by Toronto’s deeply ironic declaration of “School Crossing Guard Appreciation Week”

School Boards, Solidarity

TORONTO –The City of Toronto today announced it is marking “School Crossing Guard Appreciation Week.” The announcement comes less than a week after the city’s General Governance Committee voted in favour of changing vendors and laying off roughly 350 school crossing guards. “I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry,” said Myra Chico, president…