CUPE 1328 and the OSBCU Call for Early Bargaining as Underfunding and Staffing Crisis Deepens at Toronto Catholic District School Board

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) and CUPE 1328, representing over 2,500 education workers throughout the Toronto Catholic District School Board, are urging the Ford government and Education Minister Paul Calandra to begin collective bargaining with unions as soon as possible, as severe underfunding and chronic staffing shortages continue to harm students and education workers across Ontario — including in the Greater Toronto Area.

“There can be no ‘business as usual’ while education workers and students bear the brunt of chronic underfunding,” said Joe Tigani, President of the OSBCU. “Early bargaining is critical to stabilizing our schools and addressing the staffing crisis before it becomes even more severe.”

CUPE-OSBCU is urging the government to come to the bargaining table prepared to increase staffing at all schools in the province to improve supports for students and provide necessary improvements to publicly funded and publicly delivered education in Ontario.

School boards are already warning CUPE locals that thousands of education workers could be laid off for September 2026 following the expiry of the current collective agreement in August. These potential cuts come at a time when schools are already struggling to meet students’ needs due to years of inadequate funding and understaffing.

“Getting to the bargaining table early is critical because uncertainty hurts everyone,” said Sharron Flynn, President of CUPE 1328. “We are already being told that hundreds of education workers could be laid off for September 2026. Waiting until the last minute only deepens the staffing crisis and leaves workers, families, and students in limbo all summer long. Early bargaining would allow us to address funding, staffing, and safety issues proactively instead of scrambling in the fall. It would give boards the clarity they need to plan responsibly and give families confidence that schools will be properly supported when the doors open.”

The OSBCU and CUPE 1328 are ready to go to the bargaining table at any time. Early bargaining is essential to provide certainty for students, parents, and education workers — and to prevent yet another school year marked by a crisis of underfunding and understaffing of public education. Minister Calandra can issue a regulation to allow bargaining to start up to 180 days before the expiry of the current agreement at the end of August — as early as the beginning of March.

“Our students deserve stability, and right now that stability is being put at serious risk,” Flynn said. “At TCDSB we are under provincial supervision — we no longer have trustees, and decisions about our schools are being made entirely by the Ford government. At the same time, boards are talking about massive cuts and layoffs, with our employer signalling plans to cut $50 million. That is terrifying for our members and for the students who rely on these supports every single day.”

Key Stats:

• The Ford government has underfunded public education by $6.3 billion, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

• According to the OSBCU, the Ford government has cut per-pupil funding by $1.4 billion in the 2025-2026 school year.

• CUPE education workers in Ontario are currently working the equivalent of 1,355.5 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs worth of unpaid work.

• 96 percent of CUPE Educational Assistants and Child and Youth Workers in Ontario experience violent or disruptive incidents in their workplace; 55 percent say it happens every day.

• Despite government claims about “historic funding” for schools, student to staff ratios have not improved since the Ford Conservative government took office in 2018. In fact, for some job classifications, student to staff ratios are worse now than in 2018.

• Agreements that limit school boards’ ability to cut education jobs expire on August 30, 2026, meaning there could be mass layoffs (as several boards have indicated will happen) for the start of the next school year in September – unless those agreements can be renewed through collective bargaining.

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