The Province of Manitoba has declared the week of September 25-29 as School Support Staff Recognition Week.
Because of CUPE, the Manitoba Government has recognized the hard work of school support staff since 2013 and has set aside this important week to acknowledge the value of school support staff to our education system.
“School support staff across Manitoba are critical to the success of children, youth and our shared community” says Gina McKay, President of CUPE Manitoba. “School support staff keep our schools safe and clean, get our kids to school safely, keep our schools running, and help our children and youth learn, grow, and succeed.”
Despite this, in the last few years school support staff at numerous school divisions have had to push for fairness in the workplace, and even went on strike, including CUPE 1630 custodians and cleaners at Rolling River School Division
“While we take the time to celebrate our school support staff, we also urge the provincial government and school divisions to prioritize treating all staff with respect and work harder to ensure fairness in the workplace, which in-turn creates a more inclusive, safer, and better education system for everyone”.
CUPE Manitoba launched our annual ad, encouraging the community to “thank your school support staff”, reminding Manitobans that these staff are the pillars of our K-12 school system.
Download a copy of the Proclamation
Listen to our CUPE Manitoba School Division Sector Radio Ad:
CUPE represents school support staff, including education assistants, custodians, cleaners, school bus drivers, library technicians, intercultural and community liaisons, tradespersons, office administrative staff, and more in 25 school divisions across Manitoba.