Board ratifies collective agreement with CUPE Local 895

At the regular Board meeting on Monday, November 17, 2008, Rainbow District School Board ratified a new collective agreement with CUPE Local 895. CUPE Local 895 ratified the agreement on November 2, 2008.

Local 895 represents 170 full-time and part-time custodial and maintenance staff employed in Rainbow Schools in Sudbury, Espanola and Manitoulin.

Rainbow District School Board values the work of its custodial and maintenance employees who keep schools clean and safe. They also have a positive impact on the Board’s sustainability efforts, for the benefit of students, staff and the communities that we serve.

The deal, in effect until August 31, 2012, provides for a salary increase of 12.5 per cent over four years as well as enhancements to staffing and benefits established under a Provincial Discussion Table agreement.

Rainbow District School Board has reached a tentative settlement with OPSEU Local 814 representing 140 Educational Assistants and Communicative Disorder Assistants in Rainbow Schools.

Negotiations are ongoing with the balance of the Rainbow District School Board’s bargaining units representing both teaching and non-teaching employees.

Provincial Discussion Table agreements have been reached with all employee groups provincially except for English public teachers represented by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) and the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO).

“We strongly urge OSSTF and ETFO to achieve a Provincial Discussion Table agreement to ensure that all of our students and teachers benefit from the additional financial investments being offered by the Province,” said Dena Morrison, Chair of the Board’s Negotiating Committee.

-30-

Media Contact:

Nicole Charette, Senior Advisor,
Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning,
Rainbow District School Board, 705-674-3171, ext. 7217.