Sudbury parents 'scramble' to make child care plans as Rainbow Board closes schools

When Ashley Gibson-Taylor learned late Thursday morning that the Rainbow District School Board would be closing schools on Friday, she had two thoughts go through her head.

"I definitely had two initial reactions. It was 'way to go OPSEU,'for one, and two: 'oh my goodness, now I need to figure out child care,'" Gibson-Taylor said.

Northern Ontario's largest school board was one of several decide to close schools, following the news that Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) members would walk off the job Friday, in solidarity with Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) members who are in a labour dispute with the province.

Like many families, Gibson-Taylor and her husband had to "scramble" to come up with a child care plan with less then 24 hours notice.

'A big impact'

For Friday, Gibson-Taylor and her husband have each taken a half-day off work, to split child care responsibilities an option she knows they're "lucky to have."

While the strike poses and inconvenience, Gibson-Taylor said she fully supports the job action. It's personal for her, as her younger son relies on one-on-one support from an educational assistant in order to attend school. Meanwhile, her father is a CUPE member and school custodian in New Liskeard.

"To see him going through this is absolutely heartbreaking," Gibson-Taylor said.

Another Sudbury parent, Amie McGregor, agrees that finding child care for a day is "a small sacrifice to make as parents" in order to support education workers.

For single parent Jessica Champaigne, working from home for a day is possible, but she worries what will happen if the strike continues beyond one day.

"I'm worried. I'm concerned this is going to last quite a long time. I'm hoping to be able to work from home during that, but it's still a big impact," Champaigne said.

The Rainbow District School Board says there are more than 425 CUPE and OPSEU members within the board who will be striking Friday, and that it could not safely operate schools without them.