London-area schools to close Monday if education workers walk out
Most schools in the London area will close Monday if education workers walk off the job.
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Most schools in the London area will close Monday if education workers walk off the job.
The Thames Valley District school board said Thursday schools will close if employees represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) strike to back contract demands. About 3,500 of its employees are represented by the union, including educational assistants, school office staff and custodians.
The board said schools would not be safe if they remained open during a strike.
The London District Catholic school board has said it also will close schools if its 1,500 workers represented by CUPE walk out.
Both boards also say child-care centres would be closed and before and after school programs cancelled if there’s a strike.
Schools are closed Friday because of a professional activities day for teachers, so the London District Catholic board is advising students to take home personal belongings, eyeglasses, textbooks and musical instruments on Thursday.
If schools are closed Monday, students in the Thames Valley board would switch to online learning provided in real time by teachers.
The board advises families to refer to the course or classroom’s digital learning platform (Google Classroom or Brightspace) or contact their child’s teacher.
The London District Catholic board said students would switch to online independent learning Monday, such as watching pre-recorded videos or completing assignments.
Both boards say they will try to provide devices to families that need them if a strike occurs, but availability will be limited because most of their information technology staff will be on the picket lines.
CUPE gave a five-day strike notice on Wednesday after bargaining with the province broke down.
If the 55,000 workers are on the picket line Monday, it would be the second time they8 go off the job this month, and the Ministry of Education has instructed school boards to enable a “speedy transition to remote learning” if they determine they can’t safely keep schools open.
Several school boards have already said learning will move online in the event of a strike.
“It is important that students are benefitting from live, teacher-led learning during this period,” the ministry said in the memo, obtained by The Canadian Press.
It was unclear Thursday if any talks were taking place between CUPE and the government.
CUPE said the two sides recently agreed on a 3.59 per cent wage increase, but the union is still fighting for higher staffing levels for educational assistants, librarians, custodians, secretaries and early childhood educators.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the government has put forward multiple improved offers and has not asked for any concessions.
CUPE’s education workers walked off the job for two days earlier this month after the province enacted legislation that imposed a contract on them and took away their right to strike.
When a strike happened anyway, the government then promised to repeal the legislation and the workers returned to their jobs as bargaining resumed.
With files from The Canadian Press
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