A judge has granted an injunction for the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board to prevent long delays for teachers and students at the picket lines.
School board support staff, represented by Unifor Local 2458, have been on strike and picketing for almost four weeks, causing hold ups for teachers trying to get into schools.
The injunction was filed after teachers at some high schools reported being held up for hours, leaving students waiting for class to start in school cafeterias and gymnasiums.
After the injunction was granted on Thursday, school board spokesperson Stephen Fields said he felt the judge did a good job of satisfying the concerns from both sides.
"We're please with the way it turned out. I think the judge had a difficult balancing act in the sense that he needed to weigh the interests of the union and their right to picket against the rights of students to gain access to their education," he said. "Ultimately it was the interests of students that carried the day."
Fields said the judge ruled that between 7:30am and 20 minutes before the start of classes, teachers can't be held up by picketers for longer than 60 seconds. Picketers must also clear the way for students and teaching staff in the final 20 minutes before classes start.
However, teachers can be delayed for up to three minutes at the end of the day, and at any other time during the day, picketers are allowed to hold drivers for up to five minutes.
"[The school board doesn't] have any objection to organized labour groups holding legal strikes and holding information pickets, but our message has always been leave the teachers out of it, and leave the students out of it," says Fields. "This is about students and making sure they get the education they're entitled to."
The school board originally filed an injunction back on October 27, but the judge dismissed it on a technicality, saying it was incomplete. The board says the judge then urged it to refile its application.
About 370 support staff including custodians and secretaries with Unifor Local 2458 have been on strike since October 17.
-With files from Adelle Loiselle
