NDP Education critic Chandra Pasma released the following statement in response to news of a strike notice from Ontario’s lowest-paid education workers:
“Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce have brought us to the brink of disruption in our schools, and they’re the only ones who can stop the clock on this countdown. All they have to do is come to the table with a fair offer that respects the hard work of our lowest-paid education workers, who make $39,000 on average.
The people who drive school buses and clean classrooms are being forced to use food banks while Mr. Ford racks up multi-billion-dollar surpluses and schemes to shortchange education by billions more. Our kids need more support in school to catch up after the pandemic, not less. But our kids will have less support if Mr. Ford keeps chasing education workers away with low wages. Mr. Ford created a staffing crisis in hospitals by holding back people’s wages, and now he’s doing the exact same thing in our schools.
Education workers deserve a decent wage, and our children deserve a government that invests in ensuring there are enough caring adults in their schools. Ford and Lecce must offer a fair deal to stop disruption to our kids’ school year.”
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