The concerns mirrored broader reports across Ontario in 2025
CUPE 5678 represents 1,650 workers at Upper Canada District School Board and are speaking out against forthcoming job cuts.
President Jacob Casselman said the 31 full-time equivalent job cuts are impacting the students directly.
The UCDSB is citing financial pressures as the reason for the cuts, which will impact early childhood educators, ESL instructors and more.
Casselman's calling on a reversal of cuts and more action from the province.
Casselman says staff have already been overworked, and it's led to an increase in violence.
According to a survey cited by the union, 80 per cent of members reported experiencing violence on the job, while more than half of Educational Assistants and classroom support staff said those incidents occurred every day. CUPE 5678 argued that schools were reaching a breaking point, with many workers taking leave due to burnout or injury.
The concerns mirrored broader reports across Ontario in 2025, where CUPE and the Ontario School Board Council of Unions warned that underfunding and staffing shortages were contributing to increased violence and unsafe working conditions in schools.
Listen to the full interview below.
Story by: Grant Deme
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