Special school board meeting on collective agreement

By Kristena Schutt-Moore

On Monday, Dec. 19, the Hastings Prince Edward District School Board held a closed special meeting of the committee of the whole. 
This meeting was held to discuss the motion that the HPEDSB approve the terms of the local collective agreement between the HPEDSb and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, CUPE local 1022, for the period of Sept. 1, 2022 to Aug. 31, 2026.
Superintendent of education Darren McFarlane was asked to speak to the board during the open portion of the meeting. He said that it was with great pleasure to speak on behalf of the negotiations team that he presented the tentative agreement that was reached with their “CUPE labor partners.” 
“It was a collaborative process, and it was a great opportunity for us to come together, hear about some of the issues and concerns each side had as we sought to optimize our collective agreement in service of enabling our employees in order to serve our students better. Which is of course our primary responsibility and with that we are very excited to be one of, I believe two boards, in the province of Ontario that have been able to achieve a local collective agreement with our CUPE partners,” said McFarlane.
There were no questions brought forward during the open meeting and the board members approved terms of the local collective agreement between the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board and the CUPE Local 1022.