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…
THUNDER BAY, ON – Education workers at Lakehead District School Board are showing their care and concern for students by purchasing 1,500 fabric masks for use by students in schools. “We know our schools and we know our students,” said Rod McGee, president of Local 2486 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). “We…
MARKHAM, ON – Education workers throughout Ontario are condemning the decision by York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) and its trustees to shutter its school libraries and lay off all its library technicians, slamming the move as a short-sighted one that will hurt students’ ability to recover from the learning losses incurred during the months…
In response to the announcement of additional federal funding for Ontario’s latest back-to-school plans, Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions gave the following statement: CUPE members welcome any new funding that will help re-open schools safely. But we need to make sure it’s going to be spent on the things…
Read the CUPE and safe school reopening bulletin here TORONTO – Ontario schools need vastly more investment for staffing and supplies to make them safe for students’ return in September, as well as shield them against the effects of a second wave of COVID-19, says the union that represents 55,000 education workers in the province.…
