The president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario School Board Council Union is calling for a new collective agreement for education workers in London, Ont., saying “enough is enough.”
Laura Walton was among a crowd of frustrated CUPE Local 4222 and Local 7575 workers who rallied outside the Thames Valley District School Board office on Dundas Street over the status of local bargaining discussions ahead of a special education advisory committee meeting Monday evening.
Last December, CUPE ratified a central agreement with the province after both sides brokered a tentative deal on Nov. 20 that the union said comes with a $1-per-hour raise each year, or roughly 3.59 per cent annually, for the average worker.
However, the same has yet to be said on the local level as an agreement has not been ratified with the school board. Rebecca Avey, CUPE Local 7575 president, told Global News last week that “all those benefits and negotiated items are not available to members until local ratification is done.”
In response to the ongoing delays, Walton said the board has been “dragging their heels” when it comes to getting a deal done.
“There is nothing and no reason that I can think of that would prevent this employer from getting to the table, give each local five straight days, get the issues done. But what they’re doing right now is dragging on it, and actually not helping themselves,” she said. “This is a board that we know has a recruitment and retention issue due to the wage. Well, they can’t increase the wage until they ratify locally.
“I wanted to be here to support the workers who are doing the brave thing of speaking up and saying to this employer, we’re done waiting, you need to be at the table, or if not, then this isn’t going to just be a rally anymore, this could turn into another strike.”
According to Thames Valley, the discussion of items such as salaries and benefits is determined at the provincial level, as per the School Board Collective Agreement Act. Local bargaining matters, in this case, centre around working conditions unique to the school board.
In a statement to Global News last week, Thames Valley said it is “continuing to meet with the bargaining units of CUPE 4222 and CUPE 7575.”
“We very much value the work of all CUPE members and remain committed to ongoing, collaborative discussions at the table to best meet the service needs of the school board,” the statement read. “As we are actively bargaining with CUPE units, specifics about the bargaining process or items being discussed cannot be disclosed to the public.”
However, according to Walton, CUPE has received no explanation as to why there are ongoing delays in getting to the bargaining table, citing similar issues with other school boards across the province.
“There’s loads of excuses and rationale but I think at the end of the day, this needs to be a priority and it could have been a priority long before this. The fact that we’re sitting here in April and finally doing a rally, realistically speaking, this probably should have been a rally three months ago,” she said.
Walton highlighted that over half of the school boards in Ontario have completed their deals.
“Over half saw the priority respected their workers and realized that we need to get this settled and we need to move on,” she said. “Boards in Windsor and in Stratford are already done. It’s already gone to bed. Boards in Kitchener-Waterloo are also already done. So, we’re talking about the surrounding area. I’m not talking about halfway across the province.”
She added that while there are legal ways to expedite the local bargaining ratification process, what officials are seeing now is “the power of the worker.”
“It’s important that this board understand that these aren’t just people, these aren’t just numbers that show up and do the job every day. These are members of your community that you are neglecting and disrespecting,” Walton said.
With roughly 4,000 education workers within the TVDSB, and citing the possibility of a future strike mandate, Walton said that “parents have absolutely every right to be nervous … but they also have the right to know the truth.”
“Parents have the right to know that this school board is delaying getting to the table and getting what these workers need done,” she said. “They are parents just like me, just like you, and just like everybody else. They want to be able to do their job, afford to do their job, and do their job well.”
Mary Henry, president of CUPE Local 4222, added that a lot of workers in London are ready to strike.
“They’re overwhelmed, they’re tired, and they’re exhausted,” she said.
However, Henry said that the hope is still that both parties can come together and make a fair deal.
“We’re just hoping that the board will sit and actually make some solid gains for everybody for the benefit of not just us, but for them and the students who are the top priority.”
Walton added that CUPE plans to “keep the pressure on in this board.”
“We’re going to be talking to the community. We’re going to be talking to parents, we’re going to be talking at dance recitals, and at soccer games and letting them know that this board is disrespecting the people that are providing the key services to their children.”
– with files from Global News’ Scott Monich.