After five days of mediation, negotiations between the support staff and the Algoma District School Board broke off early this morning. Over 650 educational support staff are carrying picket signs this morning outside schools across Algoma and at the board office in Sault Ste Marie. The provincial funding formula allows for the harmonization of salaries. The board was not prepared to do this. Insured benefit coverage would also be significantly reduced for almost all members.
Job security remains a key issue.
We could not, in all conscience, settle a collective agreement without knowing how many of our members will have jobs this fall. Members work in locations from Hornepayne to Elliot Lake to Sault Ste Marie.