The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has officially announced that they will begin a full strike on Monday. CUPE who represents about 55,000 education workers including custodians, maintenance, IT, early childhood educators, educational assistants and clerical staff have given the legally required five day’s notice to begin a strike. CUPE workers have been in a work-to-rule campaign this week which has seen custodians stop cleaning hallways and emptying garbage cans outside schools, clerical workers have stopped finding replacements for absent staff, and education workers have stopped working overtime. The union says that they are open to returning to the bargaining table before Monday hits, to avoid a full strike.
myFM spoke with CUPE 4222 President Victoria Toulouse who says that local staff with the Thames Valley District School Board will start picketing on Monday if an agreement has not been reached.
Toulouse says that the TVDSB will be the ones who decide if schools will remain open during the strike.
The TVDSB has said they will continue to evaluate the situation and will provide updates related to operations of schools as they become available.
