Christmas came early for the Ministry of Education as they’ve achieved another deal with a group of education workers. The rare Sunday news comes from the Ontario Council of Educational Workers (OCEW), a collection of unions representing thousands of education workers in schools around the province, who have now reached a tentative agreement with the Ontario government after a days-long stretch of bargaining. Continue reading “ON Gov Achieves New Deal with Another Group of Education Workers”
Monday dawned with another day of job action by education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), but now it will be the last day too. In a sudden press conference at Queen’s Park this morning, Premier Doug Ford said that his government will move to revoke the highly controversial Bill 28 that imposed a new contract on CUPE using the notwithstanding clause if the school workers promise to return to work. Continue reading “Ford Blinks! CUPE Agrees to End Strike After Gov Promises to Revoke Bill 28”
As the hours counted down on Thursday, it was clear that a job action on Friday by the education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) was inevitable despite the Government of Ontario’s attempt to stop it. Despite a lot of action around Queen’s Park Thursday, CUPE workers look to be hitting the picket lines on Friday no matter what happens in the legislature. Continue reading “CUPE Strike Ready to Go Friday As All Sides Hit Impasse”
A spooky surprise this Halloween for education workers in Ontario, especially the ones getting ready to strike this Friday. In a pre-emptive move before the Canadian Union of Public Employees’ deadline for job action this Friday, the Minister of Education has announced Monday that the Ontario government will be forcing the province’s librarians, educations and custodians back to work before they even have a chance to strike. Continue reading “Ontario Government Pre-empts Education Strike, Labour Pissed”
Although it will not be formally announced until Wednesday, Ontario’s opposition parties are already unimpressed with the Government of Ontario’s back to school plan. No Ontario school students have received in-person learning since the end of March due to the third wave of COVID-19, and opposition politicians are concerned that the government is showing a dearth of pre-planning just one month ahead of the new school year. Continue reading “Knives Already Out for Ontario Government’s Back to School Plan”
At a special meeting of the Upper Grand District School Board on Tuesday night, trustees heard the plans of their staff to ensure the safe re-opening of schools in Guelph and area in just a few weeks time. According to the staff report, the new school year is going to come with big challenges, and a big price tag, but confidence is high that it’s a good plan that will give school kids a taste of normalcy. Continue reading “Masks For Everyone, Says Upper Grand District School Board”
The school year is almost over, but the planning for next year is now a less opaque thanks to an announcement from Queen’s Park on Friday. Education Minister Stephen Lecce took part in Friday’s press conference where the Government of Ontario laid out how the province’s schools will operate in the fall, and it will have to be multiple choice as school boards must prepare three different plans in case of the circumstances. Continue reading “Ontario Government Releases Plan to Re-Open Schools in the Fall”
Last September at the Labour Day Picnic in Riverside Park, there were already signs that it was going to be a long year at the province’s schools. The contract with all four teachers’ unions in Ontario had expired, and the Ontario government was in no mood to approve new spending or pay raises for teachers and other school workers employed at our Catholic and separate public schools. That was only the beginning. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #224 – It’s Been a Long School Year…”
At the Upper Grand District School Board Meeting last Tuesday, a series of meetings about the budget for the 2020/2021 school year were cancelled because the board is still waiting for documents from the Ministry of Education that they need to finalize the budget. With a deadline of June 30 for the final budget to be submitted to the ministry, school boards across Ontario have 30 days to get their financial plans in order even through there are still so many questions that have to be answered. Continue reading “Upper Grand and Wellington Catholic Waiting for Key Docs to Finish 2020/21 Budget”
Nearly eight months after their contract expired, and after who knows how many lost hours in the classroom due to rotating strikes, the Ontario government has closed its fourth and final deal with the teachers’ unions. With a month’s time, a year of labour strife at Ontario’s schools has come to an end with a tentative deal with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF). Continue reading “A Year of Labour Strife Concludes with a Deal for OSSTF”
Guelph Politico 