TDSB, other GTA school boards to close doors if CUPE goes on strike

The Toronto District School Board and several other GTA school boards have announced closures in the event of a strike by school support workers.

If a new deal cannot be reached between the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the provincial government, thousands of workers will walk off the job starting Monday, Oct. 7.

The Toronto District School Board says all schools will be closed for the duration of the strike.

TDSB Director of Education, John Malloy made the announcement Thursday afternoon.

“Our CUPE workers cover many, many different aspects to our board services and we felt that we required this decision in order for our students to be safe,” he said.

Malloy said the decision was based on the board’s inability to ensure student safety in the absence of support staff.

“We understand that this is very challenging for our families, we get the frustration and anger this may cause, and we certainly empathize, but at the end of the day safety is paramount and we could not ensure that for all students,” he added.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board says it will also close its schools to “ensure the health and safety of our students and staff.” The board says third-party child care operators located in TCDSB schools will be permitted to remain open, however, operating hours will be adjusted to 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

WATCH: Malloy provides update on board’s response to potential strike

The Peel District School Board also cited safety concerns saying “student safety cannot be ensured during a CUPE strike” and have asked parents not to send their children to school starting Monday next week in case of a strike.

York Region District School Board, York Catholic District School Board and Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board will also be closing.

The Halton District School Board says it intends to be open on Monday and the Halton Catholic School Board says they have not made a decision yet.

Durham District School Board says they will make a decision about closures on Friday.

CUPE members began a work-to-rule campaign on Sept. 30 after talks with the province broke down the previous day.

On Wednesday, Laura Walton, President of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions announced at Queens Park that full strike action would go into effect if a fair deal was not reached.

The province and the union are expected to return to the bargaining table Friday.

CUPE represents 55,000 school support workers including education assistants, custodial staff, clerical workers and early childhood educators.

Contracts for Ontario’s public school teachers and education workers expired Aug. 31, and the major unions are in various stages of bargaining.

The talks were prompted by the province’s order for school boards to start increasing class sizes. The Tory government has said that will mean 3,475 fewer teachers in the system over four years, which will be accomplished by not filling vacancies when teachers quit or retire.

Walton has said those cuts will trickle down and impact educational assistant supports and custodial services as well.

A list of provincial school boards and their status should CUPE workers go on strike:

Closed on Monday

Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board
Ottawa Catholic School Board
Peel District School Board
Toronto District School Board
Toronto Catholic District School Board
Waterloo Catholic District School Board
Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board
York Region District School Board
York Catholic District School Board
Durham Catholic District School Board
Near North District School Board
Durham District School Board

Open on Monday

Greater Essex County District School Board
Halton District School Board
Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (not affected by CUPE strike)

Undecided

Halton Catholic District School Board
Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board