London school boards set to close Friday, move to online learning in response to CUPE strike

As the Ontario government plans to pass anti-strike legislation, CUPE members are preparing to walk off the job on Friday.

More than 55,000 Ontario education workers including custodians, administrative staff, and educational support workers plan to strike, despite the Ontario government calling it an “illegal strike.”

This comes as the Ontario government plans to pass legislation that will bar workers from striking.

“Sometimes you just have to make a stand for ourselves and our children because they’re our future,” said Mary Henry, the president of CUPE Local 4222.

On Thursday, London’s two major school boards notified parents that they will be closed Friday and pivot to online learning.

CUPE currently represents about 2,500 full-time Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) employees and 1,000 casual positions, according to the board.

In a statement, the TVDSB said, “we will do our best to provide continuity of learning for all students. Access to virtual learning will be available to students through their Google Classroom or Brightspace platforms,” the statement reads.

“Your child(ren)’s teacher will communicate how students can access this information; if you need more details, please reach out directly to your child’s teacher.”

The London District Catholic School board also expects to close its doors on Friday.

“Schools will coordinate with families that may need to borrow a device for remote learning. We ask families to be patient, as many of our IT support staff are members of CUPE. Students will not be penalized academically if they cannot participate in remote learning,” said a representative for the board in a statement.

“Next week, if schools need to remain closed, online learning for students will be scheduled based on the daily Ministry of Education requirements using both synchronous and asynchronous teaching and learning,”

This means that learning that will either happen in real time with a teacher online or students will work at their own pace, through assignments and watching pre-recorded videos.

Coralie Waschkowski told CTV News on Thursday that she is offering up her home on Friday in order to help parents who aren't able to watch their children at home.

“There will probably be four kids with me tomorrow and I think for the parents that can’t wait for that last minute struggle of finding a place it’s better to have something in place for them tomorrow,” said the mother of two.

On Monday, Waschkowski put out a call on twitter, suggesting people who have the means should help parents who are without childcare.

“We all try to kill it with kindness and support the community,” she said.

Local CUPE members said they plan to strike outside various MPP offices on Friday.

“It really hurts us because we all want to be in the schools, none of us want to be out, we don’t want to make that a fact for the children,” said Henry.

The Ontario government is vowing to fight what they are calling an "illegal strike" by education support workers on Friday as mediation between the two parties fell apart.

At a news conference, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the government made “a good faith effort” but the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) wouldn’t budge and take their threat of a strike off the table.

“For the sake of Ontario's two million students, to keep classrooms open, CUPE has left us with no choice but to pass the Keeping (Students) in Class Act,” he said.

“Kids should be in the class tomorrow. And we’ve now passed out a law that sets a requirement that these workers have to get back to work and it is my hope and expectation that they will show up tomorrow for our kids.”

Bill 28 uses the notwithstanding clause to legislate a four-year contract for workers while preventing them from taking job action. The bill was tabled Monday and is expected to pass later today.

The union has said that despite the legislation, its members will take part in a province-wide strike “until further notice,” starting Friday.

Bill 28 imposes a four-year contract on more than 55,000 education support workers, including custodians, early childhood educators, education assistants, and administrative staff. Part of that contract includes a 2.5 per cent annual wage increase for individuals making less than $43,000 a year and a 1.5 per cent increase for all other employees.

CUPE has been arguing for an 11.7 per cent increase, equaling about $3.25 more an hour across the board.

“As everybody is aware - we are the lowest paid sector in the public services. Our average salary is only $39,000 a year, it’s not enough,” said Henry.

With files from CTV News’ Katherine DeClerq