An Ontario labor board hearing to determine the legality of a walkout by education support workers was adjourned early Sunday morning as the province’s lawyers argued the strike was illegal because a new contract had come into effect. In its application, the provincial government said it is seeking a “declaration of illegal strike action” against the Ontario School Board Union Council of CUPE, which represents the workers. Also mentioned are Laura Walton, president of OSBCU, and Fred Hahn, head of CUPE Ontario. The government is seeking an order to “immediately cease all illegal strike activity”. “Ensuring that an illegal strike is not allowed to continue is a very important purpose of industrial relations,” said government lawyer Ferina Merji. The government passed legislation on Thursday that imposed a four-year contract on union members and canceled their right to strike. It also included the derogation clause in the legislation, effectively preventing the union from using the courts to oppose it. Proceedings before Brian O’Byrne, chair of the Ontario Labor Relations Board, or OLRB, began Thursday night and continued Friday and Saturday before proceedings adjourned around 1:30 a.m. of Sunday. The hearing was set to resume at 7 a.m., but it remained unclear when the ruling would be handed down. Stephen Barrett, a lawyer for the union, argued on Saturday that the only option left for workers was to protest the removal of government-protected rights. The OSBCU argued in its own statement to the board that the job action that began Friday is not a strike, but rather a “legitimate political protest” to oppose the government’s “decision to trample on workers’ constitutionally protected right to collective bargaining and the right to strike.” Earlier on Saturday, Mr O’Byrne ruled that Education Minister Stephen Lecce would not be called to testify, even though the union’s lawyer had argued for it. Mr. Lecce has vowed to get the more than one million students in Ontario who were forced to stay home Friday back into classrooms using “every tool available.” On Saturday, the Ontario Federation of Labor organized protests across the province Saturday in support of education workers, including one at Yonge and Dundas Square in Toronto. OSBCU members, which include education aides, security guards and other support staff, lined up outside the offices of politicians and the provincial legislature at Queen’s Park on Friday. On the south lawn of the legislature, protesters waved placards and chanted “no more cuts” and “we will not back down.” Some marched around the building while others danced to music. Asked Friday what the union would do if the OLRB rules against it, Ms. Walton did not indicate next steps. “We’ll have to see,” he said outside the legislature. He added that the workers demanded that the protest continue until the government offers a better deal. The union faces hefty fines for its actions under the legislation, known as Bill 28: $4,000 a day for each worker who walks out, with a $500,000-a-day penalty for the union. Many schools – including in Toronto, York and Peel – were closed Friday as the union defied the government and walked out. On Friday, thousands of education support workers across Ontario walked off the job, forming lines outside Queen’s Park and politicians’ offices. Some of the protesting workers tell us why they took action after the provincial government’s fast-tracked legislation mandating a union contract. The Toronto District School Board is among several boards that have said they will be closed Monday if union members do not return to work. Boards said these workers provide critical day-to-day services such as lunch supervision, support in kindergarten classrooms and safety and security on school grounds. In a memo to school boards, the government said it wanted them to make “every effort” to keep schools open and that if there were health and safety concerns, boards should make a “rapid transition” to distance education. Not all school boards were closed on Friday. Some, including the Waterloo Region School Board, said none of their employees are OSBCU members, meaning their classrooms are not experiencing problems. The Halton Regional School Board, meanwhile, said it will alternate between in-person and distance education for its elementary schools if the union action continues next week. The union represents custodial staff in primary and secondary schools. The council said secondary schools would remain open every day because under its local contract, high schools are allowed to use contract custodial staff. The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board announced late Friday that it would close schools and switch to online learning Monday if the action continues, after initially saying schools would remain open because they didn’t have many employees off the job. The collective bargaining agreement imposed on OSBCU by government legislation includes annual wage increases of 2.5 percent for workers earning less than $43,000 and 1.5 percent increases for those earning more. Both raises are well below what the union is demanding. Mr Lecce said the legislation was necessary to keep children in classrooms after their learning was disrupted during the pandemic and due to labor strife before the pandemic. The government’s use of the extension clause has led to widespread criticism. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on social media Friday that he has spoken with national union leaders about Ontario’s “inappropriate preemptive use” of the clause and that the federal government “stands firmly with the workers of our country.” Ottawa said it is considering options to intervene in Ontario’s decision, but has not provided details. The Ontario government and OSBCU have been in talks for much of the past week. Last Sunday, the union had given the required five-day notice for action. The union said the government had given it an “ultimatum” to either withdraw its strike plan or face back-to-work legislation. The two sides spent the next few days in a Toronto hotel with a mediator in a last-ditch effort to broker a negotiated settlement. Ms Walton said the government would not budge on contract terms imposed by its legislation after rejecting a union counteroffer on Wednesday. That included about 6 percent annual salary increases for the workers, who the union says are among the lowest paid in the education sector. The union had previously asked for annual wage increases of 11.7 percent. The contracts of all education unions, including teachers, expired at the end of August. This was widely expected to be a difficult round of negotiations. The remaining unions are still in discussions with the government. Several other unions have voiced their support for the OSBCU. Members of the Ontario Secondary Teachers Federation and the Ontario Elementary Teachers Federation joined the protests on Friday. Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union, said it would donate $100,000 to help pay any fines levied against OSBCU members. The BC Federation of Teachers said Saturday it will send $1 million to support OSBCU. With a report by The Canadian Press.