Mother 'mortified' Catholic school board strike kept her autistic son waiting on a bus

A mother of a boy with severe autism says her son waited on a school bus for too long before a teacher came to get him on the second day of the strike.

Nearly 400 support staff from the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board have been off the job since Monday.

"I was mortified that people would behave this way," said Mary Beth Rocheleau, who is Gregory's mother.

At St. Thomas of Villanova high school on Monday morning, vehicles were backed up for more than two hours as pickets made teachers wait in their cars before entering school property.

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School buses, however, could immediately bypass the queue. But with many of the teaching staff stuck, no one was there to take Gregory off the bus.

"The strikers were holding up my son's support system, the teachers are his lifeline," said Rocheleau.

"He needs them, he cannot function without them. And those actions put my son's safety at risk."

Unifor Local 2458 says they want to ensure the safety of the students during the strike.

"It's our position that those students with disabilities, they're across the line in a quick manner," said Bruce Dickie, president of Unifor Local 2458.

"And if they do need the one-on-one help, than the [education assistants] will be in there as well to assist."

But it's the teachers who help the students off the buses at Villanova, says Rocheleau. And those teachers were left waiting in the queue.

"I'm scared to send my son to school. He's so vulnerable and I don't feel secure sending him. I really don't want to let him go back until I know things are safe for him," said Rocheleu.

Talks broke down between the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board and Unifor Local 2458 on October 7.