CUPE Labour Relations Updates
UPDATE #10: Sunday, November 20, 2022
We are pleased to share that a tentative agreement has been reached between the Government of Ontario, the Council of Trustees’ Associations (which includes the association representing Catholic school boards – the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association), and CUPE.
Please be advised that schools will open for in-person learning tomorrow (Monday, November 21). Parents who have received a device for remote learning are asked to please return it to the school office.
We thank you for your patience and prayers and we are thankful that a tentative agreement has been reached.
UPDATE #9: Friday, November 18, 2022
The Board is continuing to monitor CUPE labour relations developments; however, at this time no agreement has been reached, and CUPE continues to participate in central negotiations with the Government of Ontario and the Council of Trustees’ Association.
We wanted to remind parents and guardians that beginning Monday, November 21, teachers will be providing synchronous learning for students via the Teams and/or Brightspace/D2L platforms, should an agreement not be reached prior to Monday.
It is our understanding that all parties will continue to be at the negotiating table into the weekend. CUPE staff play vital roles in our school and Board communities, and we continue to hope and pray for a resolution.
We ask families to check their email regularly over the weekend.
Thank you for your continued patience and support.
UPDATE #8: Thursday, November 17, 2022
Beginning Monday, November 21, teachers will be providing synchronous learning for students via the Teams and/or Brightspace/D2L platforms, should an agreement not be reached prior to Monday.
Parents who previously indicated that they required a device for remote learning will receive further information from their school. Devices will be distributed to families prior to Monday.
Participation in Synchronous Learning
As noted in a previous communication, no student shall incur an academic penalty as a result of their ability to participate or not participate in remote synchronous learning.
Synchronous learning means that teachers will be available online for remote instruction which may include chat, audio and/or video instruction. Remote learning will include the following minutes of instruction:
| Grade | Daily minimum synchronous learning time requirement |
| Kindergarten | 180 minutes |
| Grades 1 to 3 | 225 minutes |
| Grades 4 to 8 | 225 minutes |
| Grades 9 to 12 | 60 minutes for each 75-minute class |
A regular daily schedule will be in place which includes breaks and a lunch period, and attendance will be taken.
Daily class work will be posted to the Teams or Brightspace/D2L platforms for students to complete on their own schedule if they are unable to participate in synchronous learning. Please contact your school principal if this is the case for your child.
Should you require technical support for remote learning, please contact 613-258-7757 ext. 1. We ask for your patience as we have a limited number of ICT staff available for support.
Additional Learning Resources
In order to further support teachers and students, the Ministry of Education has two portals, TVO Learn and TFO IDÉLLO, apprendre à la maison, which provide supports for students learning remotely by accessing additional educational resources developed by Ontario certified teachers.
In addition, secondary students can continue to access TVO’s Independent Learning Centre (ILC) Open House and Portes ouvertes pour les cours TVO ILC in French- language, which provide access to 144 Grade 9 to 12 courses. These ILC resources are designed to provide flexible learning opportunities to help students keep up with their learning or deepen their understanding of a specific subject in addition to their regular course timetable. CDSBEO has curated several other resources for teachers and families, and these can be found on the CDSBEO website.
Mental Health and Wellness Supports
The mental health of our students remains an important focus for us. If you believe your child needs mental health and wellness support please reach out to your school principal.
Additional resources remain available to students and families, including Kids Help Phone, which offers 24/7 counselling and referral services across the province. To use this free resource, children can call 1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868.
School Mental Health Ontario also has a number of great resources for students, parents and families on their website at www.smho-smso.ca. Links to additional supports for students and parents are available through our website at: Student-Parent Mental Health Resources
We recognize that the potential shift to remote learning presents challenges for you as parents, for students, and for staff. We appreciate your continued patience and support, and hope that we will be able to move swiftly to a resolution that restores us altogether.
Preventing Illness and Protecting Our Community This Cold and Flu Season
We would like to share the following information with families on behalf of local medical officers of health, which includes recommendations to protect the health and safety of our communities: Call to Action for Our School Communities – EOHU & LGLDHU
Please visit our website for a school contact directory: CDSBEO School Directory
UPDATE #7: Wednesday, November 16, 2022
CUPE, the union which represents custodians, school office staff, educational assistants, early childhood educators, Information and Communication Technologies staff, library technicians, and other education workers in the CDSBEO, has given five days’ notice of their intent to strike IF an agreement with the province is not reached between now and then.
This means CUPE staff would not be reporting to schools effective Monday, November 21. CUPE represents approximately 600 employees at CDSBEO and 55,000 education workers across the province of Ontario.
As we cannot safely operate schools without CUPE staff, all schools in the CDSBEO will be closed to students should a strike proceed.
Provincial bargaining continues this week between CUPE, the Government of Ontario and the Council of Trustees’ Association. We continue to hope and pray for an agreement to be reached. We will continue to provide you with updates as information is shared with us.
UPDATE #6: Monday, November 7, 2022
We are pleased to share that CUPE (the union that represents custodians, school office staff, educational assistants, early childhood educators, Information and Communication Technologies staff, library technicians, and other education workers) will return to work on Tuesday, November 8, 2022.
All schools will be open to students, who will return to in-person learning at that time. Regular student transportation will also resume.
Parents/guardians are asked to return any technology devices that they have received for remote learning, to the school office.
We thank you for your patience and understanding over these past few days.
We understand that provincial bargaining will resume between CUPE, the Government of Ontario, and the Council of Trustees’ Association.
We will update families with any new information that may be shared with us through the ongoing provincial bargaining process.
UPDATE #5: Sunday, November 6, 2022 (2:00 pm)
We understand that CUPE, the union representing educational workers in our schools, may continue with a full withdrawal of services throughout this week.
As noted in previous communications, the Board cannot safely operate schools without CUPE staff, and therefore, all CDSBEO schools will remain closed to students Monday, Nov. 7, 2022 and until further notice. All students will continue to learn remotely from home.
Classroom teachers will continue to provide asynchronous learning to students on Monday and will transition to synchronous remote learning on Tuesday, November 8. Parents that require technical support are invited to call 613-258-7757 ext.1.
We understand that this remains an ongoing situation. If there is a resolution to this labour issue, we will communicate directly with families as soon as information becomes available to us.
We ask families to continue to check their email regularly over the coming days for updates and thank you for your continued patience at this time.
UPDATE #4: Friday, November 4, 2022 (4:00 pm)
The Board is continuing to monitor developments and will provide families with an update over the weekend on labour relations and the status of remote learning for Monday.
UPDATE #3: Thursday, November 3, 2022 (3:50 p.m.)
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has announced that their members (Board custodians, school office staff, educational assistants, early childhood educators, information communications technology workers and other staff), will proceed with a full withdrawal of services on Friday, November 4, as negotiations have ended with no agreement. Therefore, as communicated previously, the Board will be required to close all CDSBEO schools to students for tomorrow, Friday, November 4.
UPDATE #2: Thursday, November 3, 2022 (8:45 a.m.)
We have learned that CUPE, the union representing support workers in our Board, intends to engage in a full withdrawal of services to our schools on Friday, November 4. As we cannot safely operate schools without CUPE staff, all schools in the CDSBEO will be closed to students if a resolution is not reached today. We will continue to monitor and provide information to families as it becomes available to us.
UPDATE #1: Monday, October 31, 2022 (2:00 p.m.)
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has announced that their members (custodians, school office staff, educational assistants, early childhood educators, information communication technology workers and other staff) will be on a full strike effective Friday, November 4, IF an agreement is not reached by this Thursday, November 3. A full strike means that these employees will not be in schools as of Friday.
We are very concerned about the impact of strike action on the safe operations of our schools and know that parents/guardians share that concern.
Due to the vast and significant roles held by our CUPE employees, it is not possible to ensure the safety of students during this strike; therefore, CDSBEO will close all schools to students as of Friday morning, November 4, IF an agreement is not reached. Students will then move to remote learning at that time.
Teachers are not CUPE members and therefore will connect with students through the Teams or Brightspace (D2L) platforms.
We will provide a survey to parents/guardians to determine their technology needs and distribute technology for those who require it. We will also provide some technical support but ask for patience as most board technology staff would not be available due to strike action.
We wanted to be able to provide parents/guardians with this information as soon we could so that they could make plans accordingly IF a settlement is not reached by Thursday.
Please know that we do not make this decision lightly, and we understand the impact this will have on families. Without CUPE workers on-site, however, we simply cannot ensure safe conditions for all students and staff. This course of action is based on the following considerations:
- supervision of students and safe arrivals;
- medical support and care for all students;
- enhanced cleaning protocols, the safe operation of water and sanitation systems, including required water flushing;
- conditions of school buildings and classrooms, and
- overall safety and security.
Please know that this labour disruption arises out of the current provincial central negotiations involving the Government of Ontario, the Council of Trustees’ Association (which includes the Association representing Catholic school boards – the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association), and CUPE.
We understand that as of yesterday evening the Government has announced it will introduce legislation today that may change this landscape. We will provide you with an update as information becomes available to us.