‘A Good Day Is Only Getting Hit Three Times’: CUPE TCDSB Education Workers Demand Action as School Violence Soars

TORONTO, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– CUPE Local 1328, which represents over 2,000 education workers across the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), is urgently calling for the board to hire hundreds more education workers following a damning Global News investigation revealing a 77 percent rise in violent incidents in Ontario schools since the Ford government came to power.

Sharron Flynn, President of CUPE 1328, says that education workers at the TCDSB are experiencing physical violence every single day, including biting, scratching, hair-pulling, and serious injuries because students are not given the supports that they need.

“Our local receives pictures of puncture wounds and ripped-out hair. Members are saying that if they only get hit two or three times in a day, it’s considered a good day. Violent incidents are so frequent that many workers have stopped reporting them,” Flynn said. “We need hundreds more education workers hired just to get back to a safe baseline. And yet, members are being told that being hurt is ‘part of the job.’ No one should go to work and get hurt. It’s not accepted in any other profession — why is it the norm in education?”

CUPE 1328 launched a petition earlier this year demanding that the TCDSB take immediate action to address the violence crisis in schools. A majority of the membership signed the petition, demanding the TCDSB implement a real plan and real investment to keep workers and students safe.

“We need to be way more proactive instead of reactive,” said Flynn. “They’ve cut funding for pre-emptive services. I worked as a Child and Youth Worker, and we used to intervene before situations became dangerous. That doesn’t exist anymore. Students are left without supports, and our members are left to put out fire after fire.”

A province-wide survey released earlier this year, conducted by the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU), paints a disturbing picture of the daily realities faced by education workers at the TCDSB. Among CUPE 1328 members who responded, 73 percent reported experiencing violent or disruptive incidents in their work. The situation is even more alarming for Educational Assistants and Child and Youth Workers: 94 percent reported violent or disruptive incidents occurring, with 46 percent stating they occur daily.

These statistics are not just numbers — they represent a school environment where both student learning and staff safety are consistently compromised.

“This government’s refusal to fund adequate supports is putting students and workers in harm’s way,” said Joe Tigani, President of the OSBCU. “These are not isolated incidents —

they are the direct result of chronic underfunding and understaffing. Education workers are at a breaking point and students are suffering.”

CUPE 1328 is demanding urgent investment in hiring hundreds of additional frontline education workers to ensure every student has access to the supports they need and every worker can go to work without fear of violence.

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For more information, contact:

Shannon Carranco , CUPE Communications       
scarranco@cupe.ca  
514-703-8358