CUPE has secured a return to the bargaining table to continue negotiations with the province and the Council of Trustees’ Associations. The union is working towards a deal for a central collective agreement for the 55,000 education workers it represents in Ontario.
Talks are scheduled to commence Friday, October 4 at 4:30 p.m.
Earlier, CUPE gave notice of its intention to escalate its current job action to a full strike on October 7 if no deal is reached. However, the union also used the occasion to invite the province and CTA back to negotiations and offered to bargain throughout the weekend in an effort to avoid the disruption that a full strike would bring to students, families and schools.
Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of School Board Unions (OSBCU), welcomed the news, saying, “We all know that the best outcome for everyone – students, parents, families, workers – is for this dispute to be resolved at the bargaining table.
“We’re ready to do the hard work to get there, but we need the province and school boards to be equally committed to a deal, rather than a strike. If we have to, we will be ready to walk out on Monday morning, but our focus this weekend will be on the hard work needed to achieve a settlement.”