Ontario tells schools to make plans for remote learning next week if education workers strike: memo

Ontario’s Ministry of Education is asking school boards to pivot to remote learning next week if education workers strike on Monday, according to a memo obtained by CTV News Toronto.

“If a school board determines that it cannot maintain the healthy and safe operation of schools in-person, school boards must support students in a speedy transition to remote learning,” the memo, titled Labour Disruptions - Continued Contingency Planning, reads.

On Wednesday, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced that it had given the mandatory five days notice for strike action after renewed bargaining fell apart.

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The union said that the two sides recently agreed to a 3.59 per cent wage increase, but CUPE wants higher staffing levels and early childhood educators in every kindergarten class.

In order to transition into remote learning as seamlessly as possible, the ministry is asking school boards to take “immediate steps” to distribute devices and mobile WIFI to students who need it.

“We are making this request to minimize disruptions to students, parents and guardians in the event that CUPE does not reach an agreement, and proceeds with its strike action."

The Ministry of Education said that school boards can provide in-person learning, but only if they can ensure “student safety and continuity.” If a school plans to shift their operation plans, the memo states that students and parents must be notified by noon the previous day.

Already, many school boards across the province have announced that they plan to close on Monday if a strike takes place because they cannot ensure their institutions will remain safe and clean without support staff.

During this transition, the ministry says “special attention” should be paid to “our most vulnerable children and those with special education needs.”

That includes ensuring students who rely on Ontario’s breakfast programs have access to nutritional food and in-person learning continues for students with special education needs who cannot remote learn. 

AT THE BARGAINING TABLE

The Ontario government and CUPE will spend the weekend at the bargaining table. The union said they “urge the government to return with the earnest intention of reaching a fair deal for students, families, and workers,” in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

“Both parties have agreed to set a deadline of 5:00 pm on Sunday evening so we can provide parents and caregivers as much notice as possible. We will provide further updates when we have them,” their statement reads.  

The Sunday deadline is a "target," but it doesn't mean talks will necessarily come to an end. 

While there appears to be little movement in bargaining, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said he's hopeful that the two sides will move forward.

“We really hope that those discussions will carry forward. Today and over the coming days, we expect there to be conversations,” Lecce told CP24 Breakfast in an interview Thursday morning. “You know ultimately, notwithstanding the strike notice, we can still have productive conversations at the table and that's what I'm trying to do.”

Workers and the government had come back to the table following a brief strike earlier this month. The strike ended when the Ford government agreed to rescind legislation which barred the workers from striking and used the Notwithstanding Clause to head off any possible constitutional challenges against their legislation.

The Ford government’s move sparked an outcry from labour groups and even prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to call the move inappropriate.

“From the beginning, this bargaining has been about the chronically low wages of those workers, but it has also been about the services in schools,” CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn told CP24 Thursday.

He said the jobs the union is fighting for need to be there "so students have the support they need to succeed.”

Hahn said the talks fell apart again because “it's difficult to bargain with yourself.”

“You know, the government basically said this is it, this is all we got. And you know, there's been movement — they had to move because of the outpouring of support that was there because of their massive overreach with Bill 28, with invoking the notwithstanding clause," Hahn said. 

“All of that crisis that happened just a few weeks ago was unnecessary, just like what's happening now is unnecessary. There are resources available. The financial accountability officer says there's a budget surplus, there are ways in which the government could make these investments and actually help schools that actually help our kids.”

For his part, Lecce said the government has done what was asked of it by repealing the law and agreeing to better wages and is disappointed that the union is striking again.

Lecce also said that he believes that compensation remains “the fundamental fault line” in negotiations, despite CUPE’s insistence that it is no longer a major issue.

“We want to get the kids on track and we want to get them support to catch up but it all starts with them being in school,” he said. “And that's why I think we're very disappointed by the decision of the union to proceed with the strike again only a few weeks after the last one.”

Both sides have cast themselves as fighting for children in the labour dispute, but parents and kids have been left in the middle. 

With files from CTV News Toronto's Siobhan Morris.