Quinte schools prepare to close as job action by education workers looms

By Jessica Schmidt

BELLEVILLE – Local schools are telling parents to prepare for the possibility of a strike by the Canadian Union of Public Employees amid rising tensions between the union and the Ontario government. 

The union gave notice to the government Sunday that it would strike this Friday should a new contract for educational assistants, early childhood educators, custodians and administrative staff not be agreed upon. Following that declaration, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce introduced a bill called the Keeping Students in Class Act which would force a four-year contract onto the union. CUPE says it will strike regardless.

The local school boards have told parents they are preparing to move classes online and that schools will be closed should the strike happen.

The Hastings Prince Edward District School Board sent out a letter to parents and posted on its Twitter account Monday afternoon:

School families: Please read the letter from Katherine MacIver, Director of Education about planning for asynchronous remote learning, if required. pic.twitter.com/k68krvfM0O

— Hast. and Pr. Ed.DSB (@HPEschools) October 31, 2022

The Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board and the French school board Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario have also sent letters out to parents.

Local parents say they’re feeling like they and their children are caught in the middle 

Valerie Callahan of Trenton is the mother of two students who have educational assistants. Her daughter, who’s currently in Grade 12, started working with an EA when she was in the second grade. Her son, now in Grade 7, has had one since he was in the fourth grade. In an interview with QNet News on Wednesday, Callahan said she doesn’t want her kids to miss school, but also doesn’t agree that a contract should be imposed on the workers.

Callahan said her kids’ education has already suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting their learning, and yet another disruption will negatively affect her  daughter in particular.

It’s still up in the air on if the strike will happen on Friday. The Ontario government is refusing to sit down for any more negotiations unless CUPE calls off the strike, and the union says its workers will strike if there’s no deal by Thursday night.