Ontario schools are bracing for a strike by 55,000 caretakers, office staff, early childhood educators and educational assistants who are set to hit the picket lines Monday unless a deal can be worked out in time.

Should they strike, the first casualty could be full-day kindergarten programs where early childhood educators are represented by CUPE — including the Toronto District School Board — and who must be present in classrooms with more than 15 students under provincial rules.

The Waterloo Catholic board has already warned it will shut down starting Monday in the event of walkout by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), because too many of its employees are represented by the union and schools would not be safe.

Concerns have also been raised about special needs students who rely on the help of educational assistants, and many boards — including Peel and York public — are advising parents to make plans for alternate care in case schools are closed.

“If there is no fair deal to be reached, make no mistake, CUPE members are ready for full strike action on Oct. 7,” said Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions on Wednesday, announcing the move just two days after the union launched a work-to-rule.

Both sides had said they were willing to return to the table, and CUPE announced Wednesday evening that talks would resume Friday.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce said he was at a loss to explain CUPE’s escalation.

“Fundamentally, most issues were resolved last Sunday” before talks broke off, he told reporters at Queen’s Park. “Overwhelmingly, we made progress. This is where I face a bit of frustration. I’m trying to understand why they have made this decision today.”

CUPE’s Darcie McEathron said “we understand that this situation will be stressful for students, parents and communities in the short term.”

“We do not take escalating our work to rule, to full strike, lightly,” said McEathron, the union’s school board co-ordinator, adding “a fair deal is within the province’s grasp.”

CUPE has said its main issues are “service security” — or jobs, and their hours serving students — after it saw hundreds of job losses as boards balanced their budgets for this school year, and said it will not accept concessions. Its members earn an average of $38,000 a year.

The government and school boards’ key concern is absenteeism, given education workers are entitled to 11 sick days at 100 per cent pay, and another 120 days at 90 per cent pay for short-term disability. The average among CUPE workers is 15 days per year.

School boards’ associations said they were proposing a “modest” cut to the percentage paid only.

Lecce said the province and school boards have “provided additional latitude” on job security and other issues.

Regarding sick days, the “core issue” is “creating a system where (there is) a revolving door of staff and no permanency, no stability, no predictability for a child to have access to the same worker in the education sector in their classroom and we think that ultimately undermines their learning,” he said.

Regarding full-day kindergarten and special needs students, Lecce said “my hope is that no child has service disruption ... and are able to go to school on Monday.”

The Ontario Public School Boards’ Association said decisions will be made board-by-board as different employee groups are impacted at each.

The Toronto District School Board is still drawing up contingency plans and is urging parents to keep checking its website for updates.

The Ottawa and Waterloo public boards, among a handful of others, remain unaffected as they have no CUPE workers.

A strike would take effect two weeks before the Oct. 21 federal election, and on the night of the televised English-language leaders’ debate. Federal conservatives are fearful that any job action blamed on Ford’s Progressive Conservatives will hurt Andrew Scheer’s candidates in Ontario.

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CUPE officials have said they are well aware of the politically explosive timing of any strike.

CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn said the Tories need to “get serious” about bargaining in good faith, and said it would “be a mistake” if the Doug Ford government was to legislate staff back to work.

NDP Education Critic Marit Stiles said “what’s critical here is that the government listen to what students and parents and everyone has been telling them — that the cuts they’ve made are already significantly impacting our students. They need to back away from that.”

“I don’t think it’s too late — they can fix this problem, but they need to move quickly,” she added.

Teacher unions expressed support for the job action, but said their members are legally required to cross picket lines and go to work.

With files from Robert Benzie and Rob Ferguson

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