CUPE members hit the picket lines in Hamilton

Striking Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) education workers hit the picket lines in Hamilton Friday.

Union members are picketing at Lime Ridge Mall, Eastgate Square and MPP Neil Lumsden's constituency office across from Fiesta Mall from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

In Hamilton, the Catholic school board is closed to students in the wake of the education worker union protest, the board reiterated in its communication to parents on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Hamilton's public board is keeping schools open. The board has a contingency plan that includes opening school doors 15 minutes before the first bell and closing them 15 minutes after the last bell.

CUPE, which represents more than 1,000 Catholic education workers in Hamilton, as well as 500 caretakers and maintenance workers with the public board, said it planned to strike on Friday unless a deal with the province was reached.

Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives rammed through controversial legislation overriding Charter rights and imposing a four-year contract on the workers late Thursday.

- With files from the Toronto Star

Barry Gray is a Hamilton-based photojournalist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: bgray@thespec.com