Welcome Back

by

Welcome to the 2025-2026 School Year!

I’ve been getting a lot of questions so I thought I would put this out.

  • Please remember that you are hourly employees, not salaried. You are only paid for the time that you are scheduled.  Don’t work for free, you are not covered for activities that you do outside of your scheduled hours and role (ie coaching, staff meetings that run longer than your hours, etc.).
  • Make sure that you are wearing the PPE/safety gear provided. If it does not fit, there isn’t enough or it isn’t suitable, contact your supervisor to have it rectified.
  • Make sure you are taking your breaks and your unpaid / uninterrupted lunch. You need this time to decompress and get away from the stress of your job.
  • Make sure that you are filling out incident reports every time. If you don’t fill them out, the board assumes that everything is okay, and you don’t need any additional help. If you are attacked by a student (identified or not), it is workplace violence.
  • Make sure you are reading safety plans before working with a student. If the student is new, push to have a safety plan put in place if needed.
  • If you are required to change a student, make sure you have the proper PPE, supplies and location to work out of. Make sure the location has proper ventilation and a garbage can. Do not change students on the floor.
  • It is not your job to get photocopies or supplies for teaching staff. That is why they have prep and planning.
  • EA and ECE, you can be asked to supervise your students (JK/K or Identified) during arrival, and dismissal, noon hour and recess duties. They can schedule your breaks/lunch during instructional time. EAs hired before June 30, 2005 are not to do general supervision, EA’s hired after this date are restricted to 30 minutes of general supervision per day.
  • EA’s the employer updated the role outline, and you are allowed to go onto busses/vans to help students buckle and unbuckle. Try to get them to be as independent as possible, but if you need to do the buckle up, you can. Make sure that you have proper PPE if needed.
  • Secretaries make sure that you are only doing the jobs that are part of your role. If your school doesn’t have a vice principal, it is not your job to take on those responsibilities. Also, it’s not your job to supervise students. They should not be hanging around the office.

Stay safe,

Tracey

Use of Personal Devices at Work

by

I wanted to reach out to remind everyone that they should not be using personal devices (phone, tablet, laptop, etc.) for work. This includes using your phones to scan QR codes for behaviour.

We have had members lose/break their devices while working either by accident or by student action. Neither the board nor WSIB will cover the loss/repair of a personal device. If you are required to fill out incident forms, scan the QR codes, check email, etc., please ask your supervisor for a board device to use. You can  use school tablets, Chromebooks, laptops, etc.

Retro Pay Letter – Email from Board

by
Hi Folks,
Last Friday – February 28th – the board sent out a email to everyone that included a letter with the amounts of your retro payment broken down by tax year. The subject line of the email was “THIS IS A TEST”. On Saturday, they sent out an email explaining that the subject line was a mistake. Many of you may have thought this could be one of the IT email tests that they send out and may have deleted it. The totals on the letters did not always match the totals on the retro payment pay stub. Please check your letter. They have told me that they will be looking at the letters and sending them out again. Hopefully in the next few days.
Once correct, these letters can be used to fill out the T1198 when you do your taxes to have these amounts calculated at the tax rates for those years. If you find that the total on your letter does not match the total on your retro pay stub, please let me know. Once you get the letter a second time, please make sure that the numbers match those on your retro pay stub. If there are any recalculations that need to take place on your retro pay, that money will be included on the 2025 tax year T4.
Please make sure that you keep the letters in case of an audit.
In Solidarity,
Tracey
President

CUPE Union Education is looking for Member Facilitators

by

The CUPE Union Education department is now actively recruiting Member Facilitators for confirmed weeklong training scheduled for August 10 – 15, 2025.  Member facilitators are a vital part of CUPE’s education program, providing a wide variety of workshops to members around the province.

 

We’re looking for applicants who:

  • Have experience in their local – on the Executive, as a steward, on a committee, or as an activist
  • Are comfortable speaking in front of groups
  • Are pro-CUPE and represent CUPE’s values
  • Represent CUPE’s diversity – gender, racialized, Black, Indigenous, differently abled, 2SLGBTQI+, and young workers
  • Come from different areas of the province and work in different sectors
  • Have been a participant in a CUPE workshop
  • Are open to learning new things and new ways of doing things

The deadline to apply is March 4, 2025. Those interested can fill out the PDF fillable application form attached and send to Cidália Ribeiro at cribeiro@cupe.ca.

Form Application Member Facilitator EN 2025 02 05

 

Thank you in advance for your help with this important work.

Flyer MF Recruitment EN 2025 02 05

Steward Commmittee

by

CUPE Local 4186 Members,

The Stewards’ Committee is excited to announce that we are looking for more stewards to join the committee! If you are passionate about representing your fellow members and advocating for workplace fairness, please submit your name by January 24, 2025, at 4:00 PM to Patty Kleber, Grievance Officer, at grievanceofficer@cupe4186.ca.

 

In solidarity,

The Stewards’ Committee

Violence Campaign

by
Our Local, in collaboration with  other  CUPE Education Worker locals in our region and CUPE National, is launching a crucial campaign. Our goal? To raise awareness among employers, trustees, and our community that violence in the workplace has no place in our jobs.
Violence in schools is on the rise, and CUPE 4186 members are saying enough, workplace violence is not part of our job. We all deserve a safe workplace, free from violence, and it’s time for our voices to be heard. This campaign is vital for every CUPE member at the London District Catholic School Board.
To make this campaign a success, we need your support. We’re looking for one CUPE member at each school to help kickstart this initiative. Your role will be to collect signatures for a petition to show violence is not part of our workplace, and action is needed NOW!
This petition will be presented to our employer and trustees to demonstrate our collective commitment to ending workplace violence.
If you’re willing to be the school contact for these petitions, please email us at:   violencecampaign4186@gmail.com  Include your name and the school you work at.

Work Locations Needed:
Assumption
Breck Ave
Catholic Education Centre
Holy Cross Secondary – Strathroy
Holy Family – London
Holy Family French Immersion-Woodstock
Holy Rosary
Monsignor Morrison
Mother Teresa
Notre Dame
Our Lady Immaculate
Our Lady of Lourdes
Regina Mundi
Sacred Heart – Parkhill
Saint Andre Bessette
St. Anne’s – St. Thomas
St. Anthony French Immersion
St. Charles
St. David
St. Francis
St. George
St. Joseph’s Elementary – Tillsonburg
St. John French Immersion
St. Jude – London
St. Jude’s – Ingersoll
St. Kateri
St. Marguerite d’ Youville
St. Mark
St. Martin
St. Mary’s – West Lorne
St. Michael
St. Michael’s
St. Nicholas
St. Patrick Adult and Continuing Ed
St. Patrick’s – Woodstock
St. Paul
St. Pius X
St. Sebastian
St. Theresa
St. Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas More
 In solidarity,
Tracey