CUPE National President Paul Moist encouraged striking Thames Valley District School Board workers to keep up their fight for adequate time to do their work, at rallying stops in St. Thomas, Middlesex and London, Ontario, on Tuesday, May 23rd. “You have the full support of Canada’s largest union and your CUPE sisters and brothers, from coast to coast, are with you every step of the way,” Moist told over 400 CUPE 4222 Unit C members.
The Education and Instructional Assistants, on strike since May 11th, are only paid for six hours a day to help special needs students, and are often forced to work during their lunch hour, skip their breaks and stay late to ensure their daily work is completed.
“This issue affects not only the students and workers in this community,” said Moist. “EAs and IAs all over Ontario face similar issues with more work to do then their time at work allows. As employers, school boards need to recognize and respect the work that our members do for students and the community.”
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