A crowd estimated at more than 1,000 marched around the block outside Brantford-Brant MPP Will Bouma’s constituency office on Friday morning.
Members of CUPE Local 5100 — representing educational assistants, clerical, IT, and custodial staff at Grand Erie District School Board schools in Brantford and Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk counties — had their ranks swelled by supporters from other unions and the public.
About 55,000 members of CUPE in Ontario walked off the job in defiance of provincial legislation passed Thursday that imposes a contract on them and makes strikes illegal.
CUPE members planned 100 demonstrations across the province Friday, mainly at the offices of MPPs, to draw attention to their conflict with the provincial government.
“Everybody showed up early with tons of energy,” Robin Sweers, an educational assistant at Pauline Johnson Collegiate for the past 23 years.
“We’re walking, talking, welcoming members of the public and other labor unions who are joining us today,” said Sweers, who is also communications chair for the Ontario School Board Council of Unions.
In Brantford and Brant County, the sole picket line was staged at Bouma’s office at the corner of Nelson and Charlotte streets in Brantford. Bouma crossed the picket line upon arriving at his office, but the Conservative MPP did not come out to speak to pickets.
Picket lines also were set up on Argyle Street in Caledonia for CUPE members from Haldimand County, while in Norfolk striking employees were on Simcoe’s Queensway East, the busiest street in town.
Marcela Caro, a teacher at Houghton Public School, joined the picket line during her lunch hour.
She was accompanied by her son, Alexander Siemens Caro, a student at Holy Trinity Catholic High School in Simcoe, who wrote a test before joining the pickets.
“It’s important to us that we support all education workers and all workers,” said Marcela.
“It’s a slippery slope,” she said of the government action.
“It impacts all of us not just education workers.”
In Brantford, Mike Lalone, an educational assistant at Greenbrier School, said workers did not want to strike.
“We all have families and don’t want to be out as much as the rest of them, but unfortunately we need to do what’s right,” he said. “We’re standing up to all the bullying tactics that the government put through.”
He said the government has stripped away his right to bargain.
“You want to get kids in school? Come back and bargain fairly. That’s what we’ve done the entire time.”
All schools in the Grand Erie board reverted to asynchronous online learning due to Friday’s walkout.
Lalone said his children are not doing online learning because they don’t support what’s going on.
He noted that, unlike during the pandemic when he worked every day with special needs students in schools, those students are unable to do remote learning.
“I want to be in school. I love the kids that I work with,” he said.
“But I can’t because what does it show the kids that I work with in the schools, that you can be a bully and you can do whatever you want if you’ve got the power? I don’t agree with that. We are understaffed, underpaid, and absolutely overworked.”
Kyle VanBradt, a custodian at Branlyn-Notre Dame School in Brantford, said he was amazed by the turnout and support from other unions at Friday morning’s picket.
“That’s solidarity. If that doesn’t show you something, I don’t know what will,” he said.
“I hope this message goes right to the Ford government that what they are doing is unacceptable.
“We’ve been pushed down for far too long and we’re not going to stand for it anymore.”
Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board schools remain open because its support workers are not represented by CUPE.
