Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Downtown Napanee was awash in purple Friday morning as hundreds of education workers represented by CUPE took to the streets to picket.
CUPE staff and supporters carried signs and paced the sidewalks of downtown, met with a steady flow of car honks in show of support.
CUPE, which represents 55,000 education workers across Ontario, walked off the job Friday after contract talks between the union and the province failed to yield an agreement. This was despite the Ontario government currently in the late stages of passing legislation that would declare the strike to be illegal.
CUPE National President Mark Hancock and National Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick participated in an emergency meeting with all of CUPE’s Ontario School Boards Council of Unions (OSBCU) local presidents to review the latest offer put forward by the Ford government.
“This is a call to arms for union members, workers, and anyone who believes in Charter rights across Canada. This isn’t just about education workers, this is about the rights of all working people across the country,” said Hancock. “The message from our leaders here in Ontario is clear: our members are united, and they intend to fight – and they have Canada’s largest union in their corner and we are going to fight alongside them.”
As a result of the job action, all schools in the region were closed to students. The union has stated they plan to continue to strike until a deal is reached. Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce has stated he won’t come back to the negotiating table until the union cancels the strike.
“It is with a very heavy heart that we had to close @LimestoneDSB schools today for in-person learning. We cannot operate anywhere close to normal without the services of CUPE employees. We were hopeful for a fair and negotiated resolution to the current labour impasse,” reads a Tweet from LDSB director Krishna Burra.
If the strike continues on Monday, Limestone District School Board and Algonquin Lakeshore District School Board have both stated they would move to remote learning.