CUPE STRIKE UPDATE

Oct. 3, 2019

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has announced a full withdrawal of service to go into effect this Monday, Oct. 7, 2019 unless a full negotiated settlement is reached prior to that date.

Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington (PVNC) Catholic District School Board employs about 800 CUPE members, representing support staff such as custodians, maintenance staff, secretaries, educational assistants, early childhood educators, learning commons specialists, paraprofessionals and central IT employees among others.

The Board has determined that we cannot safely operate our schools for students during a full CUPE strike.

As such, all 36 PVNC schools will be closed to students as of Monday, Oct. 7, 2019 unless a new central agreement between CUPE, the Government of Ontario and the trustee associations can be reached before then.

While we remain hopeful that negotiations this week will be successful and a strike can be averted, we encourage families to make alternate child care arrangements for next week, beginning Monday.

The Board has made the difficult decision to close schools for students in the event of a strike after assessing a number of factors including the Board’s ability to offer special education programming, provide adequate supervision, follow safe arrival processes and maintain safe and secure learning environments.

We will be posting labour relations updates on our website – www.pvnccdsb.on.ca, on Twitter @PVNCCDSB and we will be communicating any updates in the central negotiation process directly to families via our School Messenger system by Sunday evening.

“We understand that we are entering a time of great disruption for our students, families and staff,” Director or Education Michael Nasello said. “We remain hopeful that a fair and respectful collective agreement can be reached as soon as possible.”

If you require further information, or have any questions, let me know!

Miigwetch,