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Boards of Education and Cultural Institutions

"We're not standing down - we're standing by"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2022

TORONTO – OPSEU/SEFPO education workers will walk off the job this Friday in a monumental show of solidarity with their CUPE colleagues who are set to stage a province-wide protest against Stephen Lecce and the Ford government’s Bill 28.

Bill 28, which is a legislative attack on workers’ constitutional right to fair and free collective bargaining, was introduced on October 31 after CUPE gave its five days’ notice for job action, with the possible start of a strike on Friday, November 4. Bill 28 preemptively prohibits these workers’ right to strike, imposes massive fines, imposes four-year long collective agreements, and invokes the notwithstanding clause to preclude any legal action against Ford’s unconstitutional and undemocratic attempt at strong-arming.

Bill 28 isn’t just an attack on education workers’ collective bargaining rights, it is an attack on all workers’ rights. And after hearing from hundreds of our education workers and their local leaders who want to support their CUPE colleagues, our response to this unprecedented legislative overstep is clear: OPSEU/SEFPO education workers will walk out in solidarity with their CUPE colleagues this Friday.

Message to OPSEU/SEFPO education workers

OPSEU/SEFPO Boards of Education and Cultural Institutions (Sector 3)

OPSEU/SEFPO represents close to 8,000 members working in boards of education as educational assistants, child and youth workers, designated early childhood educators, autism support workers, deaf blind interveners, lunch monitors, early childhood educators, clerical workers, IT specialists, Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and ESL, among others. The Cultural Institutions membership are Gallery Attendants, Art Installers, Art Technicians, as well as others, who work at Galleries and Museums.

Together, we make up OPSEU/SEFPO Sector 3, Boards of Education and Cultural Institutions.

The sector’s elected Executive meet to discuss the concerns facing the Education sector, then develop plans on how to support members at the provincial and local level. The support includes social media communications, political action, targeted campaigns, member education, requests to the President’s office to bring forward the concerns facing education workers to the Premier’s office and or respective ministers office and member mobilization.

Podcast

Divisional executive

Sandra Cadeau
Chair
scadeau.opseu330@hotmail.com

Melody Hurtubise
Vice Chair
president@opseu2100.ca

Susan Richarz
Secretary
susanricharz@gmail.com

Donna Caissie
Treasurer
dcaissie2011@hotmail.com

Rebecca Bailey
Member at Large
rebeccabailey614@gmail.com

Kelly Martin
Member at Large
president@opseu330.com

Bonnie Eddy
Member at Large
bonnieeddylocal330@gmail.com