Thousands of CUPE members hit the picket lines, demanding fair wage

Locally, thousands of CUPE members hit the picket lines, demanding the province pay them a fair wage. Griselda Stancati has been an educational assistant in Niagara for a decade and says she’s struggling financially, “I make $39,000 a year. That is nothing. I can’t even afford to put food out anymore for my family.” “We have not had a raise in ten years. We are at the poverty line. We are an almost all-women organization and we are standing up for our rights today and the rights of our students,” Early childhood educator Becky Kluskens said. Kluskens has been an early childhood educator for ten years and she says her work environment has become unsafe. “Schools have become unsafe. I was off sick last week and nobody is coming in to cover our jobs… nobody is willing to work for how little we get paid,” Kluskens said. “I get beaten, and slapped every day for what? It’s sad,” Stancati said. Education workers are asking for an 11 per cent raise over three years which