Potential School District Work Stoppage

Posted on Friday, October 4th, 2019

Dear Learners and Colleagues,

This week, we heard that Ontario school districts are engaged in collective bargaining with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) union. CUPE employees will be in a position to strike as of Monday, October 7. Some parents have been informed by their boards that, should a work stoppage occur, their schools will have to close.

We realize this situation has created uncertainty for many families and so we wanted to provide some information to help you plan.

While we remain optimistic that a settlement can be reached prior to the commencement of a work stoppage, we would like to encourage any of you who could be impacted by this strike to consider how this situation might affect your normal family routines. Each school board may be impacted differently.

Faculty members and frontline staff should also be aware of the impact a strike could have on students. Please encourage your learners to connect with you should they not be able to attend class as a result of the strike so arrangements to catch up on their lessons can be made. Each school board may be impacted differently so you may want to check with your local school to evaluate how your own situation might be affected.

Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP)

Some of you may have children attending schools that are impacted. For those employees still identifying alternate childcare, we want to take this opportunity to remind you of the resources of our Employee and Family Assistance Program. EFAP is available to support our employees. Morneau Shepell, our EFAP provider, is available 24/7 and can be reached at: 1.844.880.9142. By calling, individuals will receive professional consultation and support and/or referral to community resources.

This is an evolving situation and, like you, we will be watching it carefully and adjusting accordingly. We will update the College community with additional information as we assess options and monitor school board decisions.

– Claude Brulé, Algonquin College President and CEO


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