“A provincial government that doesn’t care much about children, workers, or the truth” – CUPE responds to Star report of Ford government’s penny-pinching strategies for schools and COVID-19 –

School Boards

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,…

Province must provide direction, support for students and staff working in schools during COVID shutdown

COVID-19, School Boards

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…

OSBCU responds to government’s extension of virtual learning in Ontario schools

School Boards

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…

YCDSB aggravating fallout from COVID by closing school libraries and laying off workers

COVID-19, School Boards

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…

Cheap won’t keep Ontario students and staff safe from COVID in reopened schools: CUPE – Education workers demand more funding for post-COVID schools –

COVID-19, School Boards

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.…

Paying it forward: CUPE education workers step up to support public and colleagues hard hit by COVID-19

COVID-19, Education, School Boards

TORONTO, ON – Education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in Ontario are gearing up to help friends and neighbours whose lives and workplaces have been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. CUPE school board leaders have strongly endorsed the provincial government’s “community involvement” initiative, paving the way for the union’s education…