Toronto District School Board Drops the Lay-Off Ball

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 19, 2012) - The Toronto District School Board is wasting no time in getting rid of its 430 Regular Program Education Assistants, almost all of whom are women and many who are sole support parents.

"In their eagerness to dump workers from what has turned out to be an embarrassing process, staff at the TDSB are riding rough-shod over the rights of these long-serving employees," says Vice President Anna Hutchison.

Vice-President Giselle Burton added, "No one in the TDSB bothered to check what will happen in the classes when these workers are gone - and there is no one to cover supervision, work with the undiagnosed special needs children or work with the English as Second Language youngsters".

"The Board has not researched and finalized any plans about retraining", according to President John Weatherup. "Our members are being marched out the door and given only a couple of days to make decisions that will affect them and their families for the rest of their lives - with not a speck of dignity or humane plan for severance."

The final meeting with the 430 Regular Program EAs is taking place right now and the members are livid at how they are being treated.

The meeting will continue until early this afternoon at 5050 Yonge Street, the main office of the Toronto District School Board.