On Thursday, CUPE education workers in London, located in Southwestern Ontario visited the constituency office of PC MPP Rob Flack to deliver a powerful and disturbing booklet: dozens of photos documenting real injuries sustained by Educational Assistants, Early Childhood Educators, and other frontline education workers while supporting students in local classrooms.
The message to the provincial government was clear: violence in schools has reached a crisis point — and the Ford government must immediately invest in hiring thousands more education workers across Ontario.
“Every day, workers across Thames Valley are being pushed past their limits because of chronic understaffing and years of underfunding. Custodians can’t keep schools fully cleaned, trades and maintenance staff face impossible backlogs, and clerical workers are overwhelmed as offices become overflow spaces for students with unmet needs” said Mary Henry, President of CUPE 4222. Adding, “Our members are also dealing with escalating violence, harassment, and trauma — conditions no worker or student should ever face. Replacing our elected trustees with a supervisor has only made things worse. That’s why we’re here today: to demand proper funding, accountability, and the staffing our schools urgently need.”
Across the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) and London District Catholic School Board (LDCSB), education workers report a drastic increase in violent incidents. Chronic understaffing means students are not receiving the learning and behavioural supports they need. As a result, staff are frequently punched, kicked, bitten, scratched, and spat on, with many sustaining serious and lifelong injuries.
“For 26 years I’ve supported students as an Educational Assistant, and I’ve never seen conditions as unsafe or students as unsupported as they are right now. EAs used to be able to focus on helping students learn. Now our role has become managing violent incidents and evacuating classrooms because students aren’t getting the supports they need or deserve” added Rebecca Avey, President of CUPE 7575. “Understaffing, lack of training, and chronic underfunding have pushed our schools into crisis. Replacing our elected trustees with a supervisor has solved nothing. We’re here to tell MPP Rob Flack that students deserve safe, well-funded classrooms, and his government must act now to make that happen”.
Members of CUPE Locals 7575, 4222, and 4186, representing more than 5000, education workers at TVDSB, and LDCSB, say violence is skyrocketing because there simply aren’t enough trained, qualified workers in classrooms. Students’ needs are not being met, and both students and staff are being put at risk every single day.
“At the London District Catholic School Board, violence against education workers has skyrocketed. Our members are being hit, kicked, spat on, screamed at, and even having furniture thrown at them, yet they return every day because they care deeply about students. But they are exhausted, burned out, and traumatized. This isn’t a few ‘bad days’, it’s a crisis created by chronic underfunding and daily short staffing” said Tracey Cooper, President of CUPE 4186. “Workers are forced to do multiple jobs at once just to keep students safe, while our benefits are underfunded. We’re here to tell MPP Rob Flack: fund staffing, fund supports, fund safe schools. This cannot continue.”
Despite the province’s decision earlier this year to suspend TVDSB trustees and appoint Paul Bonifero as supervisor, workers say no meaningful changes have been made to address understaffing, increasing violence, or the lack of student supports — and conditions have actually worsened.
The Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU), representing more than 57,000 CUPE education workers province-wide, is calling on the Ford government to take immediate steps to:
• Adequately staff school boards;
• Address escalating violence in Ontario classrooms;
• Restore funding cuts and invest in supports that ensure safe, stable, high-quality learning conditions for all students.