Important Update Regarding CUPE Local 3484 Labour Action - February 11
Dear Parents and Guardians,
We are reaching out to keep you informed on the latest updates regarding possible labour action from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3484.
On Sunday, February 9th and Monday, February 10th, CUPE Local 3484 held a supervised strike vote. The union’s membership has voted in favour of strike action.
What This Means
The union must provide Black Gold School Division (BGSD) 72 hours’ notice if they plan to initiate job action. We have not received notice of strike action at this time. BGSD and CUPE Local 3484 continue to retain the February 25th date for bargaining, which does not prevent the Union from initiating strike action at any time. BGSD is committed to resolving this matter at the bargaining table.
As mentioned in our February 3rd and 5th letters, schools will remain open should a strike commence. BGSD anticipates that most of our students will still be able to attend classes, and continues to develop contingency plans to ensure that students have a safe and vibrant learning environment.
BGSD believes that support staff play an important role in our schools, values their tremendous contributions, and appreciates their vital role in supporting our students’ education. Without them, student supports would look different, and our schools would experience additional challenges. As we move forward, BGSD will continue to strive to meet the needs of our students through ongoing contingency planning to support our schools.
However, BGSD recognizes that it may not be possible to continue all of our programming at current levels should support staff be absent. Many students in the Division who have specialized learning needs may need to have their current learning support structures revised.
You will be contacted if program changes directly affect your child, and what specific changes are being made to meet their learning needs.
School Program Impact
BGSD is planning to support extracurricular programming and some school field trips. Please be patient as supervision might need to be modified, or require changes to program offerings. BGSD will contact parents of impacted students as soon as we are aware of specifics related to the job action.
We deeply appreciate your continued patience and support. We will continue to share updates with you via SchoolMessenger and the Black Gold School Division’s website, https://www.blackgold.ca, as it becomes available.
Sincerely,
Michael Borgfjord, Superintendent
Black Gold School Division