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Boards to vote after CUPE

Support staff look at tentative deal

KRISTIN RUSH O WY

School boards will hold a ratification vote on the tentative contract deal reached with CUPE as soon as support staff wrap up theirs, says the president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association.

“Negotiations are never easy — they are never easy for anybody, and we understand and appreciate that,” said Cathy Abraham, who was at Queen’s Park on Monday with trustees from across the province to meet with MPPs.

“But all along, we had said that we were looking for a deal that was fair for everybody, fully funded — because that is incredibly important — and, bottom line, good for kids. And we think the mere fact that we got to a deal means we got there.”

Abraham said CUPE workers need to know that school boards “appreciate and understand the work that they do for us — they are fundamental to the care of our schools and our kids. We need our CUPE members, bottom line.”

The school boards’ bargaining unit of the Canadian Union of Public Employees is holding a ratification vote until next Monday, with results released on Dec. 6.

The provincial government, school boards and the 55,000 member CUPE unit — comprised of custodians, early childhood educators, educational assistants and library technicians, among others — reached the tentative agreement on Nov. 20, a day before the workers were set to go on strike.

With a $1 an hour raise each year, the average worker is receiving a 15.2 per cent raise over the four years, though the lowest-paid will receive about 4.2 per cent annually — or almost17 per cent compounded — over the life of the contract.

Last week, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said he was “grateful” negotiators got an agreement and avoided disruption in schools.

“I want to thank them for what they do to support our kids,” he said at an event in Scarborough.

NEWS

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2022-11-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

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