Kingston, Belleville, Brockville schools remain open as CUPE strike averted

Schools across Ontario, including those in Kingston, Brockville and Belleville, will be open on Monday, Oct. 7, as a tentative deal was reached between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the provincial government last night.

The Upper Canada District School Board, Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board, Limestone District School Board and Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board will all open their schools on Monday morning.

Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir, the French-language school board in the Kingston region, will also be operating on Monday.

Around 55,000 members of CUPE, including educational assistants, custodians, maintenance staff, clerical staff and early childhood education workers, had been under a work-to-rule campaign since last Monday.

All extracurricular activities will resume, childcare facilities in schools will operate as scheduled and the community use of school programs will run as usual.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce said in a media conference Sunday night that all parties bargained in good faith to reach a fair and reasonable deal.

The president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions, Laura Walton, says public support helped the parties reach a deal.

She said the union was able to secure modest wage increases for its members and maintain its existing sick leave plan.

A ratification vote still needs to occur, which should be held by the end of the month.

On Wednesday, CUPE said that if a deal was not reached with the province by Sunday, education workers would be going on strike starting Oct. 7.

Parents and guardians across the province scrambled to arrange contingency plans for their children over the weekend when it was unclear whether schools would remain open or be closed come Monday morning.

— With files from Julie Brown