Union calls for PDSB to re-hire hundreds of education workers let go
Board says most affected EAs were let go for not working enough under collective agreement
A union is pushing back againt the termination of a few hundred education workers at the Peel District School Board, saying classrooms are "being thrown into chaos and instability."
In a news release Saturday, the OPSEU/SEFPO union, which represents education assistants (EAs) and early childhood educators (ECEs), said the loss of workers will mean less support for students.
"Every single one of these workers is needed," said Melody Hurtubise, President of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 2100.
"They ensure classrooms run smoothly, and they deserve the utmost respect — not their jobs slashed."
The union says when a staff member calls in sick, there aren't enough education assistants or early childhood educators to provide classroom coverage about 70 per cent of the time — something that will "spell disaster" come cold and flu season. It's calling for the immediate reversal of the decision.
But the board says while "all school boards have been impacted by high absenteeism rates," it let go 372 educational assistants on its casual list as part of its standard operating procedure.
It says those who were terminated were non-compliant with the annual criminal background disclosure, had not met the minimum number of working days required under the collective agreement, or had not worked for the board at all.
"Given the increase in operational requirement to cover absences, staff who did not meet their obligations in the three categories above, in particular those who had not worked for the school board at all were removed from the list," reads a statement from the board.
"We have incrementally increased our hiring efforts to be year-round and have added approximately 500 EAs to the casual list since the last school year."