Education workers are vital to Ontario’s public education system. Right now, they’re fighting for safe schools, adequate staffing, and decent jobs in our communities.
At this emergency phone zap, we'll call on our elected representatives to do what's right and bargain a fair contract for education workers.
Please RSVP for the link to join on Zoom.
What’s at stake?
Over the last four years, Ford’s Conservatives have cut funding for schools by $800 per student (adjusted for inflation). In 2021-22, cuts totalled $1.6 billion.
These cuts result in poor ventilation, inadequate cleaning and overcrowded classrooms. During the COVID pandemic, our schools weren’t safe for students and Ontario experienced more school closures than anywhere else in Canada.
Cuts to funding also mean cuts to services for students. This includes dwindling one-on-one support from Educational Assistants, school libraries without library workers, reduced custodial services and a backlog of basic school maintenance.
Education workers are fed up with the underfunding of Ontario’s education system and the undervaluing of the workers that make the system run. It simply can't continue this way.
The government has the resources to address all these issues, but so far, they are refusing to do so. That’s why education workers have concluded they have no other choice than to take job action, should collective bargaining fail to fix the problems.
Let's be clear. No worker wants to be forced into a strike.
But, if we show our support now, it's still possible to push this government to do what’s right and resolve this situation immediately.
Now is the time to raise our voices and make sure that education workers are not alone in this fight.