Workers such as preschool teachers, teaching assistants and custodians represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees plan to walk off the job Friday, despite impending legislation that would make it illegal.
Several boards, including the Toronto District School Board, have said they will have to close schools because they cannot operate safely without CUPE-represented staff.
The Ontario government has introduced legislation to enforce a contract for education workers and ban striking if threatened with a heavy fine.
He hopes to see the bill passed this week, with Premier Doug Ford saying he will do everything he can to ensure children stay in class – CUPE has not said whether its strike will extend beyond Friday .
CUPE negotiators submitted a counter-offer late on Tuesday night in response to the mandated contract terms in the legislation, and the government is set to review it.
The union did not elaborate on what it proposed. The government said it would return to the negotiating table if asked by the mediator and wanted to hear whether CUPE’s new offer was “reasonable”.
The government initially offered raises of two per cent a year for workers earning less than $40,000 and 1.25 per cent for everyone else, but Education Minister Steven Lecce said the new, mandated four-year deal would give 2.5 per cent annual raises to workers making less than $43,000 and 1.5 percent raises for everyone else.
CUPE said its workers, who make an average of $39,000 a year, are generally the lowest paid in schools and were asking for annual wage increases of 11.7 percent.
The union’s original proposal also included overtime at double the pay rate, 30 minutes of paid prep time per day for teaching assistants and ECEs, increased benefits and professional development for all employees.
Several other unions, including teachers’ unions currently in negotiations with the government, have expressed their solidarity with CUPE. The most notable example is the Labor International Union of North America – LiUNA – which supported Ford’s Progressive Conservatives in the spring election.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as the federal justice and labor ministers, criticized the Ontario government for preemptively including the Constitution clause in the legislation, saying it should not be used to suspend workers’ rights.
The clause allows the legislature to override parts of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for a five-year term.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 2, 2022.
