The Hands Down Workers rally, organized by the Ontario Federation of Labor (OFL), started at 5pm on University Avenue outside the Ministry of Labor before moving to Queen’s Park later in the evening.
The demonstration is in response to the Keeping Students in Schools Act, which is being debated in the Ontario legislature.  The bill introduced Monday would prevent a planned strike by Ontario education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which includes custodians, librarians, early childhood teachers, education assistants and administrative staff.
It would also impose a four-year contract on education workers that includes a 2.5 percent pay raise for those making less than $43,000 a year and a 1.5 percent raise for all other employees.  To prevent CUPE from challenging the bill, the government invoked a notwithstanding clause.
Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of School Boards Unions (OSBCU), says the Ford government has “overplayed” its hand by legislating a collective agreement to prevent them from going on strike.
“If the intent was just to stop us from striking, there were a lot of ways you could do that. Instead, what they did was go for what’s now called this nuclear option,” Walton told his interview with CP24.
“The nevertheless clause that interferes with people’s Charter rights, interferes with people’s human rights so that education workers don’t have the ability to strike? It’s a little bit too much.”
Walton says their members don’t want to strike, but at the same time, they can’t keep working without a fair deal.
“It’s a very troubling bill. I really hope they pay attention and I hope they understand that these people (at the rally) — these workers — are also parents and they need to be heard.”
Meanwhile, Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario, says going back to the bargaining table is the only way to reach a new deal.
“We know the way to solve this issue is not through legislation — draconian legislation.  It is not through the development of a nuclear option, such as the nevertheless clause,” Khan said.
“They’re sitting at the negotiating table and making sure that we can make investments in our schools, that we can actually make sure that employees can keep up with inflation and that boards are going to be able to attract and retain people who are talented and skills our students need to succeed.”
He added that CUPE is prepared to fight the government until education workers reach a fair deal.
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CUPE national president Mark Hancock, one of several leaders who spoke at the rally, says he has never before seen a notwithstanding clause invoked in back-to-work legislation.
“We’ve seen workers legislate again during the strike. We’ve seen workers forced into a collective agreement through legislation, but we’ve never seen the nevertheless clause used, which violates workers’ rights and our human rights,” Hancock he said.
“And that’s why I’m here today with all these people to send a resounding message to this government that it’s not appropriate. It’s not acceptable and we’re not going to accept it.”
The Ontario government hopes to pass the bill before a planned strike on Friday.  The union issued a strike notice to school boards earlier this week, informing them that education workers will walk out on November 4.
Despite the legislation, CUPE said its members would still walk off the job on Friday.
Any member who walks off the job in violation of the bill could face fines of up to $4,000 a day.  Meanwhile, the union could be fined $500,000 a day.
Ontario education workers have been without a contract since Aug. 31.
– with files from CTV Toronto’s Katherine DeClerq