At a press conference Thursday, Education Minister Steven Lecce said if the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) went on strike, it would be considered illegal as the government plans to move forward with anti-strike legislation. “I hope and expect that they will show up tomorrow for our children,” Lecce said, saying the union would not rescind its intention to strike when the two sides return to the bargaining table. “We will use every tool available in our legislation to ensure that children go to school and that disruption is alleviated for millions of students in Ontario.” In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, CUPE’s bargaining team said it was “informed” that mediation had concluded. “It is clear that this government never intended to negotiate,” the statement said. “The time and effort they spent on Bill 28, which takes away the rights of education workers, should have been spent on a deal that would respect workers and provide the services students desperately need.” Lecce says he has instructed school boards to do “everything possible” to keep as many schools open for as many students as possible and has asked staff to be at work to provide “live learning”. in case of strike.
The legislation would make the strike illegal
The Ontario government is expected to pass legislation Thursday that would force a contract on 55,000 education workers ahead of a planned strike — a bill the Canadian Civil Liberties Union calls a “disaster for rights and freedoms.” Bill 28 would make the strike illegal, although CUPE has said workers will walk off the job on Friday regardless. Preschool teachers, educational assistants and guardians are participating in the strike. Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board of Unions board, said the province is negotiating in bad faith. “This administration was looking to find a deal on the basement, but it didn’t respect students, it didn’t respect workers, it didn’t respect families. This is how they’re going to legislate it,” Walton said at a news conference Thursday. “What’s in place today is a bill, it’s not an agreement. An agreement is something that two parties come together and agree to. What it is, it’s a bully tactic,” he said. When asked if he understood the impact of using the notwithstanding clause to preemptively stop a strike, Lecce said he was “aware” of the level of disruption the boys have faced in recent years. “It’s not a normal time in society,” Lecce said. Education Minister Steven Lecce confirmed Thursday afternoon that negotiations between the province and CUPE ended without an agreement. (Carlos Osorio/CBC) The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) said today that 8,000 education workers will also walk out on Friday in solidarity with their CUPE counterparts. Its largest group of members are in the Peel and York district school boards, which have already said the strike will close schools. The Toronto District School Board, the province’s largest, says it will keep schools closed for the duration of the strike because it cannot ensure the safety of students. Many other councils across the province are also planning to close schools or switch to distance learning for Friday. OPSEU president JP Hornick said the legislation tabled by the government was undemocratic. “Bill 28 is not just an attack on the collective bargaining rights of education workers, it is an attack on all workers’ rights,” Hornick said in a statement. That sentiment was echoed by representatives of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), who held an emergency press conference at Queen’s Park this morning. “By imposing a contract, banning strikes and eliminating meaningful oversight, the government is violating workers’ Charter right to freedom of association. This is both unconscionable and completely unnecessary,” said Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, executive director and general counsel of the organization. The legislation also includes the Constitutional Derogation Clause, which allows the legislature to override parts of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for a five-year term. To date, the clause has only been used once in Ontario, also by the current government, and if the legislation passes it will mark the second time it has been invoked. The CCLA called the clause invalid as a “nuclear weapon” that was intended to be a “rare and extraordinary power” and that its use in this case is a gross overreach by the province. Mendelsohn Aviv said the bill would “infringe on workers’ rights” and called on the government to withdraw it immediately.
Ministry will seek fines if the strike goes ahead: Lecce
Premier Doug Ford said today that the union had left him with “no choice” but to introduce Bill 28. He said students had already suffered through two years of the pandemic and the government would use every tool at its disposal to ensure that children will remain in the classroom full time. The province’s bill includes stiff fines if workers don’t comply. A Lecce spokesman said the ministry intends to impose fines if the strike continues. Walton has said the union will foot the bill for the penalties imposed on workers and has suggested CUPE is seeking outside financial help from other labor groups. Premier Doug Ford during question period in the Ontario legislature on Thursday. Ford said the union left him with “no choice” but to introduce Bill 28. (Carlos Osorio/CBC) The government initially offered raises of two percent a year for workers on less than $40,000 and 1.25 percent for everyone else, but says the new, mandated four-year deal would give 2.5 percent annual raises to workers on less from $43,000 and 1.5 percent increases for everyone else. CUPE said the framework is not accurate because the increases actually depend on hourly wages and pay scales, so the majority of workers earning less than $43,000 in a year would not get 2.5 percent. CUPE said its workers, who make an average of $39,000 a year, are generally the lowest paid in schools and are asking for annual wage increases of 11.7 percent.
