How the Ontario education job action is affecting Windsor-Essex families

April Pare's daughter Addie is a student at the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board.

Addie rides a special bus to school everyday. She needs her daily lunches warmed up by an educational assistant, to help withher sensory processing disorder. She also lives with autism and ADHD, and receives special care at her school to help throughout the day.

As education workers across Ontario began a work-to-rule job action Monday, parents like Pare and students like Addieare concerned about what will happen while employees, unions and the province attempt to work out an agreement.

In addition to thousands of education workers across the province, workers affected at the GECDSB include approximately 550 clerical, custodial, maintenance and information technology employees. They are members of CUPE Locals 1348 and 27.

At the WECDSB, 568 permanent and occasional workers are affected, as members of CUPE local 1358. They include educational assistants, early childhood educators, psychologists and others.

The job action doesn't affect the same roles across both school boards.

While work-to-rule measures will only affects custodial, maintenance, clerical and information technology staff with the public school board, educational assistants, early childhood educators, psychologists and attendance counsellors are among the employees affected by the job action with theCatholic school board.

Janitorial staff with the region's Catholic school board will not be affected by the job action.

According to Darlene Sawchuk, president of CUPE Local 1358, the job action is an attempt "to avoid a full-blown strike province-wide."

"Unfortunately our negotiating body was unable to secure a collective agreement," said Sawchuk. "So we are attempting to apply a little pressure through a work-to-rule action."

Sawchuk said the greatest concern with members part of her union is "an erosion of the funding formula," brought on by successive provincial administrations.

"What that translates into is less supports and less resources and less bodies for our students," she said.

How will work-to-rule affect students and employees?

Though Ontario education workers are technically protesting unsatisfactory negotiations with the province over a collective agreement, employees will still be showing up to work during the job action.

"Our workers are going to work each day, but they are doing their core duties no extras," said Sawchuk.

What this means is that families should only expect employees to perform their duties as determined by their job description.

"So, an [educational assistant] will continue to support the special education students that are in their assignment," said Sawchuk. "Whether it's managing behaviour, whether it's help with their physical needs, whether it is help with their academic needs, that will continue to happen."

Sawchuk added that there is "no desire to do anything that would ever compromise the safety of one of the students entrusted to us."

Scott Scantlebury, public relations officer with the GECDSB, said certain employees part of his school board will be "withdrawing certain services and that began [Monday] morning."

He said that the roughly 550 custodial, maintenance, clerical and information technology staff at the GECDSB part of CUPE Local 1348 will still perform "the duties that they are obligated to."

"They've just withdrawn certain services that we may be used to seeing them perform, but are not within the scope of their regular day-to-day activities," Scantlebury said. "We're doing our best to maintain as regular an instructional day for students and for families as we possibly can."

We're doing ourbest to maintain as regular an instructional day as ... we possiblycan.- Scott Scantlebury, Greater Essex County District School Board

Community use cancelled for public board schools

As a result of the job action, Scantlebury said the public board will temporarily pause the 'Community Use of Schools' program that allows community groups and events to rent use auditoriums, cafeterias and other school rooms for non-school uses.

"Unfortunately, we had to put a pause on that, just out of concern for the safety and cleanliness of the facilities and the users, because of the work-to-rule situation," said Scantlebury.

According to Scantlebury, "there are hundreds that make use of our facilities each month."

A Windsor Ward 9 community meeting hosted by Coun. Kieran McKenzie was originally scheduled for Tuesday at Roseland Public School, but has been postponed due to the work-to-rule job action.

Shawn Lippert, president of the Windsor Adult Volleyball League had to scramble Monday to rearrange schedules for volleyball games in the 21 affected gymnasiums they use moving about 2,000 players.

According to Lippert, facility use at both the public board and the French Catholic school board have been cancelled.

"It's something that we're used to and we understand but our obligation to the league is to make sure we keep everything running as smoothly as possible," said Lippert.

The volleyball group used more than 30 gyms a night in the city for league events. Lippert said instead of three teams playing in a gym at a time, there may now be four.

Parents hoping for speedy resolution

Despite the work-to-rule measure, April Pare said she completely supports employees.

"They have a lot to deal with on a daily basis," she said. "My daughter has bitten her [educational assistant] twice."

Pare said the Ontario government needs to "stand back and take a look at what they're doing, not only to the [educational assistants], but teachers and education and kids with disabilities in general."

Kristen Siapas, the parent council chair at Giles Campus French Immersion Public School, said she also supports "everybody who is there supporting our students and our kids everyday."

"We're just hoping for a speedy resolution with this, so that it lessens the impact on our kids," said Siapas, who has four children with the GECDSB. "So far, it looks like the impact is gonna be pretty minimal. I know for parents who have students who have different needs during the school day they might notice more of an impact."

Sawchuk reiterated that she wants parents to know "that we are doing this for their kids."

"We do this work because we love this work, and we have seen a serious erosion of the resources that are available for those special students, and they deserve so much better," she said.

In the meantime, Sawchuk said she hopes "everybody gets back to the table."

"I hope that there is some positive movement and some positive change," she said. "I would love for everybody to get back to doing what they love to do."