Warning message

Please note that this page is from our archives. There may be more up-to-date content about this topic on our website. Use our search engine to find out.

LONDON, Ont. – Thames Valley District School Board workers have voted 83 per cent in favour of a tentative agreement reached June 1st, following talks between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), and the school board. The new collective agreement will add 30 minutes to the workday for 1,100 education and instructional assistants (EAs and IAs).

This deal represents a significant victory for our members and for EAs and IAs across Ontario,” said Jennifer Kaufmann, CUPE national representative. “Winning more time to work with students means better quality education for special needs students. Our members will continue to lobby the provincial government to provide adequate funding for Ontario school boards, to meet the needs of all students.”

EAs and IAs will see their hours of work increased 15 minutes a day on September 1st, 2006, and a further 15 minutes will be added on January 1st, 2007. The three-year agreement also includes wage increases of two per cent per year, and protection against future layoffs for additional professional development days.

Our members are looking forward to going back to work on Monday – we’ve really missed working with our special needs students,” said Helena McConkey, spokesperson for CUPE 4222, Unit C. “We want to thank our students, their parents, school board workers and our community for their support during our strike. We could not have won this without your patience and encouragement.”

 -30-

For further information, please contact:

Helena McConkey
Spokesperson,
CUPE 4222 Unit C
519-318-9754 cell

Jennifer Kaufmann
CUPE National Representative
519-433-1753
519-852-2803 cell

James Chai
CUPE Communications
 416-292-3999