Students in Chatham-Kent and Sarnia-Lambton will likely be learning from home next week, should a strike involving Ontario’s education workers continue past Friday.
With more than 55,000 education workers taking to the picket lines on Friday, the Lambton-Kent District School Board (LKDSB) and the St. Clair Catholic District School Board (SCCDSB) have said schools cannot be safely operated and will be closed during the strike.
With uncertainty surrounding how long the strike will last, both school boards have said students will be transitioning to some form of online learning beginning next week.
“We will be spending the day [on Friday] to prepare for programming if it is required into next week and we’ll communicate those details to families as we learn more about the length of time that schools may be required to be closed,” said LKDSB Education Director John Howitt.
After talks broke down between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the province on Thursday, the government invoked the Notwithstanding Clause to pass legislation that bans education workers from going on strike and imposes a contract, effectively overriding their Charter rights.
However, CUPE has stated that its members still intend to walk off the job in protest.
“If we are informed as of next week that CUPE will continue to not be present [at schools], we will have plans in place to pivot to remote learning and we will be communicating those plans to families,” said Scott Johnson, the director of education for the SCCDSB.
Under the newly passed provincial legislation, any education worker who walks off the job could face fines of $4,000 per day. CUPE could also be fined $500,000 per day.