One local union is sending a strong message to the public board: start cutting jobs from the top, not front-line staff.
Vice-president of CUPE 1348 Anne Marie Dimario says there aren't any job cuts on the table. "Of course this is a bargaining year anything can happen," she says.
But if it happens she fears the secretary, clerical and technical employees she represents will be the first to lose their jobs. "Because of the declining enrolment we always get the cuts and we're tired of it."
Dimario says front-line workers are the backbone of the public school board. "We're the ones that make this work," she says. "We make it work with senior administration, we make it work with teachers, but we're the ones that are always ignored. We're the ones in the background that never get the acknowledgement."
The Greater Essex County District School Board is currently dealing with a $4.4-million deficit.
