Strike is avoided in Ontario schools

Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced Sunday at around 9 pm that schools will be open Monday.

This is great news for families and students, as well as for workers , he said.

The schools will be open and, more importantly for me, as the Minister of Education, and for Ontario families, the kids will be in school as they should. Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) represents 55,000 school support staff, including teaching assistants, caretakers, clerks and janitors. Many school boards have announced that they should close their schools if there is a walkout.

The minister believes that this agreement will give students the security and stability needed to study in a supportive atmosphere.

In a written statement, Premier Doug Ford explained that the goal has been to reach agreements that respect the taxpayer, students and families, while recognizing the important contribution of front-line staff in our system. education .

A school strike could have given ammunition to the federal Liberals, who regularly draw parallels between federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and Doug Ford.

According to union president Laura Walton, one of the biggest successes of the bargaining team is getting $ 20 million in investments for Ontario schools.

According to the president, the money from the province will allow new services to be offered and jobs lost due to the cuts.

The agreement also provides for the continuation of the current provisions for sick leave, an issue that was in dispute.

The three-year deal also contains a small salary increase, according to the union.

The details of the tentative agreement will not be released until the ratification votes, which should be held by the end of the month.

Negotiations had been taking place since Friday afternoon in Toronto to try to avoid a strike that would have resulted in the closure of thousands of Ontario schools.

The union members had started a zeal strike last Monday. These pressure means are suspended.

The employment contract had expired since the end of August.