CCRCE has been in collective bargaining with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3890 to negotiate a new collective agreement for our unionized operational support staff. The employee groups that CUPE represents varies throughout the province.
In CCRCE, CUPE members include all casual, term and permanent employees within the following classifications:
- Bus Drivers
- Custodians
- Tradespeople
- Mechanics
- General Maintenance
At this time, we have yet to reach an agreement with CUPE, but we remain hopeful there will be a resolution soon.
Unless there is a resolution of the outstanding items in the next week, CUPE members will be in a legal position to strike. By law, the union is required to provide 48-hours' notice before taking job action. The earliest a strike could begin is on April 21, 2023.
What will happen if CUPE strikes?
CCRCE has been working closely with school principals to develop a plan to continue to support student learning if a strike does occur.
What will learning look like?
- In-person learning will continue for Pre-primary children up to grade six classes in all CCRCE schools.
- Before and After School programming will continue.
- Students in grade 7-12 will move to online learning at home.
- Schools that have varied configurations ex. PP-8, PP-9, PP-12, students from grades P-6 within those buildings will attend in person and grades 7-12 will be switching to learning from home.
- Devices will be provided for students who require one.
- School staff will connect with families where a student has special programming requirements.
Services that will be paused:
- Student Bus Transportation will no longer be running for students to arrive to or dismiss from school.
- School field trips relying on CCRCE transportation will pause.
- All extra-curricular activities, sports and community use of school buildings will pause. There may be exceptions with outdoor fields and grounds.
- A contingency plan will be in place to ensure schools and worksites can continue to operate in a clean and efficient manner during a potential labour disruption.
Again, we remain hopeful that these plans won’t be necessary. We value and respect our employees who are part of CUPE. Their work and contributions are significant to the success of students.
Schools will share more detailed information early next week about the specifics of the school’s plan to continue to support students including technology rollout (if required), online learning plans and other considerations.