Labour Update: CUPE Strike Action

Nov. 2, 2022,

We have learned that CUPE, the union representing support workers in our Board, intends to engage in a full withdrawal of services to our schools on Friday.

As we cannot safely operate schools without CUPE staff, all schools in the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington (PVNC) Catholic District School Board will be closed Friday, Nov. 4, 2022 to in-person learning and all students will transition to remote, asynchronous learning from home.

Please know, we do not make this decision lightly and we understand the impact this will have on families. As we communicated to families on Friday, we simply cannot ensure safe conditions for all students and staff without our CUPE employees. 

Schools will begin the process of collecting information from families who require additional technology and distributing technology to students who require it prior to Friday.

On Friday, classroom teachers will connect with students through their regular communication platforms (e.g. Google Classrooms) as we move to an asynchronous online school model for the day. The asynchronous model provides flexibility for families as teachers will be providing work that can be completed by students at any time during the day.

For students enrolled in our virtual school, programming will proceed as usual on Friday.

This is a dynamic situation, and it is possible that a central agreement between CUPE and the province could be reached prior to Friday. We remain hopeful that an agreement can be reached, and if there are any positive developments that may avert Friday’s strike, we will message families directly. This may include communications late into the night on Thursday (Nov. 3), so please check your email regularly throughout the night and watch for any developments reported by the media.