CUPE says education worker strike deadline is 5 p.m. Sunday, both sides to talk all weekend

Students, parents and staff will know by Sunday at 5 p.m. whether or not Ontario education workers will strike on Monday, the union says.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the education workers' central bargaining committee for Canadian Union of Public Employees and Ontario School Board Council of Unions (CUPE-OSBCU) laid out the timetable for negotiations.

CUPE served a five-day strike notice on Wednesday after talks with the Ontario government broke down.

"The parties will spend all weekend at the table and we urge the government to return with the earnest intention of reaching a fair deal for students, families, and workers," the statement reads.

 "Both parties have agreed to set a deadline of 5:00 pm on Sunday evening so we can provide parents and caregivers as much notice as possible. We will provide further updates when we have them."

More than 50,000 workers are set to walk off the job on Monday if a deal isn't reached.

The Ontario education ministry has told school boards to move to remote learning quickly if they determine they can't safely keep schools open.

Several school boards have already said learning will move online if workers go on strike again, two weeks after their last walkout ended. Both the Toronto District School Board and Toronto Catholic District School Board have said they will shut schools for in-person learning.

CUPE says both sides have agreed to a $1-per-hour raise each year or about 3.5 per cent annually.

But the union is still fighting for higher staffing levels for educational assistants, librarians, custodians, secretaries and early childhood educators.

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce has said the government has put forward multiple improved offers and has not asked for any concessions.

Outside Orde Street Public School on Thursday, parents told CBC Toronto they want to see the government better support education workers, but they also fear another strike because of how much time children have spent outside the classroom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Andrii Makovskiy, a parent, said he supports the demands of the education workers and understands the need for an increase in wages because of inflation.

"It's very uncomfortable but reasons for the strike are completely understandable for me. We just need to be together with school staff because what I see is government is not responding fairly to what teachers and CUPE are asking," he said.