CORNWALL, Ontario – In a press release to the media on Wednesday, Feb. 2, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 4155 which represents support employees in the Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien (CSDCEO) said they could strike as early as Sunday, Feb. 5.
There are three schools that are a part of the CSDCEO in Cornwall, Marie Tanguay, Nortre Dame and the high school, La Citadelle.
The CSDCEO also has schools in Long Sault, North Lancaster and Alexandria. In all, the CSDCEO manages over 30 schools, all of which could be affected by this strike.
CUPE 4155 represents supervisors, school administrators, clerks, maintenance workers, library and IT technicians.
The union has given the school board its five day notice of an impending strike.
"We have been extremely patient with our employer, so that we could avoid just such a labour dispute," said Raymond Giroux, president of CUPE 4155. "But after 12 bargaining dates and the impasse we reached yesterday in negotiations – even working with conciliators – we realized that, unfortunately, the time had come to take job action, up and including a full strike."
CUPE 4155 will hold a membership meeting on Saturday, Feb. 4 to decide if they will enact the strike action starting the following day.
The union says that the CSDCEO is the only school board in Ontario without a local collective agreement with its education workers and claims that the school board refuses to reach an agreement at the bargaining table.
