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Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen has written to CUPE to thank school staff and our union for encouraging Manitobans to recognize and appreciate the work of school staff in Manitoba. CUPE will also use the tools we have – our collective agreement and dismissal language – if employers are unable to continue paying regular wages. Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced today that schools across Manitoba will be suspended indefinitely and that school staff may be fired. School staff from most departments were asked to report to work during the closures. On 16 March, CUPE expressed our concern that school bus drivers would be asked to perform medical examinations on pupils in a ward. The provincial government announced that it was harvesting all publicly funded schools in Manitoba for three weeks, from March 23 to June 6. April. This measure is being taken to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Manitoba. “There are still some holes in the government`s plans for early school leaving, and we hope that departments will receive all the resources they need to fill these gaps.” “Educational assistants (EAs) still have a lot to do to help our students. Guardians and businesses still need to take care of our schools,” said Abe Araya, president of CUPE and himself a school administrator. “We need all the hands on deck to help our students as they learn from home, and school services need to do everything in their power to get support and assistance workers to work for our youth.” CUPE Manitoba represents approximately 5,000 teaching assistants in twenty-four school sections across Manitoba, including EAs, instructors, maintenance and crafts, secretaries, library technicians, mechanics, bus drivers, international student assistance, school connections and more. Inclusion Winnipeg is a registered charity that has been committed to improving the lives of children and adults with mental disabilities for 60 years. LRSD has developed safe working methods to ensure the safety and health of staff, students and other community members who have access to services.
These procedures are constantly being re-evaluated and revised in the light of health regulations and guidance. Employees must ensure that they are aware of the safest work procedures and that they are followed at all times. School trusts say they are in a difficult position when their next collective agreement with teachers reflects the two-year contract won in the Louis Riel School Division. He added that the insolvency argument should not come at the expense of teachers` salaries. Rebeck said it was not the school service`s fault that the province was withholding money. The union, which represents most of the K-12 education staff in Manitoba schools, is calling on the Manitoba government and school services to keep all K-12 employees on the payroll during COVID-19. . . .