A union representing approximately 55,000 school support workers will begin a work-to-rule campaign on Monday should weekend talks with the province fail to produce significant progress.

Laura Walton, who is the president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions, told CP24 on Wednesday that formal written notice has been given to put members in a legal strike position at the beginning of next week.

The union represents custodians, office workers and early childhood educators.

“On Monday morning students and parents probably won’t notice much of a difference, however the administrations at schools will notice a very large difference because one of the key things that we are saying is that we are no longer going to be doing unpaid work,” Walton said. “Currently 80 per cent of our members are doing unpaid work and when we ask why they are citing staffing shortages and an overloaded in work load. It is often over and above their job description and the hours of work.”

The province agreed to hold bargaining sessions with members of the union on Saturday and Sunday after the impending work-to-rule campaign first became public.

Walton said that in order for the job action to be put on hold, the province would have to withdraw certain concessions that they are seeking at the negotiation table and commit to eventually reversing the myriad of cuts that they have made to the education system.

Those cuts include increases in class sizes that will ultimately result in a reduction in teaching positions.

“Across this province parents have spoken out. They are not happy with the cuts made in the education system and we are really seeing ourselves as the frontline to protect that,” Walton said. “So we are looking for them to reverse the cuts they made in May but also to make a commitment to maintaining the staffing and improving it in the future, so children are getting the services they need in order to succeed.”

Walton said that some examples of functions that will no longer be performed by her members during the work-to-rule campaign include attendance at after-hours parent-teacher interviews by early childhood educators and early-morning calls by clerical workers to arrange for supply teachers.

In a document obtained by CP24 on Wednesday, CUPE outlined a number of instructions to its members relating to the impending job action.

If the work-to-rule campaign goes ahead, CUPE has instructed its members not to attend training sessions on unpaid time, not to answer calls or texts from supervisors outside of work hours, and not to volunteer for unpaid activities, such as clubs and coaching.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Minister of Education Stephen Lecce said that his government remains committed to “delivering a deal that gives students and parents predictability and certainty.

He said that CUPE members should “direct their efforts toward reaching a deal as quickly possible.”

“Kids and parents deserve no less,” he said.