The Legislature met at 5 a.m. today for the second reading of the Keeping Students in Schools Act, which aims to impose a four-year contract on education workers and ban strikes. “Right now is a critical time for our students. Right now, our students need uninterrupted learning in the classroom,” Lecce said during his hour-long commencement address Tuesday morning. His remarks focused heavily on the need to “keep kids in school” after two years of a pandemic that has disrupted learning, and made little mention of the support staff sitting on the other side of the table. “Young people have borne the brunt of this pandemic as their lives have been put on hold,” he said. The provincial government aims to pass this legislation before Friday’s planned strike. Lecce introduced the legislation Monday afternoon after emergency mediation the previous day between CUPE, the province, a mediator and school board representatives failed to reach an agreement. Lecce said it is the Progressive Conservatives’ “moral obligation” to introduce this legislation, as it brings “stability” to students and protects their right to learn. “I am concerned about the impact of the shutdown … we cannot afford any more disruption,” the education minister said.
THE DISCUSSION IS HAPPENING
Members of the Ontario Legislature who opposed the anti-strike bill said it’s “appalling” that the average salary of a CUPE bargaining unit worker asking for a wage increase is $39,000 as inflation enters double digits. They also pointed to the province’s 27-week school closures, which they noted as the “worst record during the pandemic of any province,” as the fault of the government — not education workers. “This is a debate about the fundamentals of our democracy,” said Chris Glover, MPP for Spadina-Fort York, in response to the government’s intention to invoke the nullity clause, which allows the provincial legislature to override parts of of the map. In that case, the province aims to advance the anti-strike bill and prevent constitutional challenges, which Glover called a “slippery slope” he finds “extremely scary.” Noting that the majority of education workers are women, Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky said the legislation introduced actually “intimidates women.” “What this says to every woman in the country, is what they have been saying for ages, ages, to women. You just go sit in the corner and be quiet,” he said.
AT THE NEGOTIATING TABLE
Despite the potential legislation, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents custodians, librarians, early childhood teachers, education assistants and administrative staff on Ontario’s English and French public and Catholic councils, says its members will still walk off the job on Friday for a one-day protest. Both the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board said they will be closed for in-person learning on Friday if the strike continues as planned. The English commons and Catholic councils in Durham also plan to do the same. Ontario education workers have been without a collective agreement since Aug. 31, and despite several rounds of talks, a new one has yet to be negotiated. Among other things, CUPE wants an annual wage increase of $3.25/hour (11.7 percent), preschool teachers in every kindergarten classroom, five extra paid days before the start of the school year, 30 minutes of paid daily prep, an increase overtime and an investment of $100 million to create new jobs. The Ford administration’s latest offer, proposed at an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon, is a four-year deal that includes a 2.5 percent annual raise for workers making less than $43,000 and a 1.5 percent annual raise for those making more. That’s up from their initial offer of two percent annual raises for workers making less than $40,000 and a 1.25 percent increase otherwise. In early October, CUPE announced that its members had voted 96.5 per cent to walk off the job if a contract agreement could not be reached with the provincial government. The union then asked the Ontario Ministry of Labor to grant what is known as a no-council petition, which means no conciliation council will be appointed. This green light, allowing workers to legally walk off the job in 17 days (November 3), was given on October 17. Five days’ notice must be given before the union can go on strike. Mediated talks between the two sides began last week, but collapsed after just two days. All five of Ontario’s main education unions are currently in negotiations with the province after their contracts expire on Aug. 31. More to come. This is a developing story.
