TDSB Workers Gear Up For Fight For Funding
Toronto – February 3, 2024 – The three unions representing workers in the Toronto District School Board, including the Elementary Teachers of Toronto (ETT), Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation Toronto (OSSTF), and Toronto Education Workers (CUPE 4400), met to develop strategies on building power to fight back against austerity and privatization in education.
During a half-day workshop in downtown Toronto, workers shared stories about the tragic impact years of conservative cuts have had on their members and the students they serve. Ballooning class sizes and scarce resources have led to burnout, violence, and departures from workers who simply cannot bear the weight of more cuts to education.
In all, it’s estimated that $1200 per-student-per-year has been cut from education funding in Ontario since Ford took power in 2018, and it’s likely that number has grown even higher under inflationary pressures from the last few years.
Not content to lie down and take it however, TDSB workers are gearing up to fight back - the first step in their campaign being to get members to SPEAK UP, SPEAK OUT!
To combat Ford and Lecce’s outrageous claims of investing in education, while in fact cutting it to the bone, TDSB unions will be engaging their membership in a campaign to tell the truth about the impact cuts are having in Toronto schools. Over the course of the day, ETT, OSSTF, and CUPE 4400 strategized on how to use the stories gleaned from member experience to paint a true picture of Conservative austerity in schools.
In the coming days and weeks, TDSB unions will escalate the campaign in workplaces across the city engaging workers, and encouraging them to SPEAK UP and SPEAK OUT developing the campaign and forwarding their demands to FUND OUR SCHOOLS.
