MONTREAL -- School is cancelled for students in elementary and high schools with the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) next Wednesday.

The board states there will be no classes on May 19, following an announcement that auxiliary personnel, including guidance counsellors, dieticians and secretaries, will be on strike.

The move is part of ongoing efforts by public sector unions to draw attention to their lagging contract talks with the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government.

Members of the Syndicat des Professionnelles et Professionels du Milieu de l'Éducation de Montréal (SPPMEM) union will be on strike from midnight to 12 p.m.

The school board decided to cancel classes at all its schools after members of other unions stated they would not cross the picket lines.

The move is the latest, following strikes by CEGEP teachers, in the ongoing dispute between many public sector workers and the CAQ.

The Legault government insists it has made its final offers and there is no more money to sweeten the pot.

The union behind the strike also represents employees at the Pointe de l'Île School Board, as well as the French-language school service centres in Montreal.

However, the union says it won't announce which schools will be hit by a strike until next Tuesday night, as part of its strategy to destabilize the government and force it to make a better contract offer.

Maintenance workers and some employees who work with special needs students at the EMSB are also expected to stage a strike on May 26.