Ontario Gov Says It’s Still Willing to Negotiate With Union to Avert Strike

Ontario Minister of Education Stephen Lecce makes an announcement at St. Robert Catholic High School in Toronto on Aug. 4, 2021. The Canadian Press/Tijana Martin

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said today the government continues to be willing to negotiate with the union representing 55,000 education support staff, in order to avert a planned strike on Nov.21.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) gave the government a five-day strike notice on Nov. 16 after collective agreement bargaining broke down. An earlier strike two weeks ago lasted two days until the government promised to repeal anti-strike legislation if the union returned to contract talks.

A walkout of workers, which includes librarians, education assistants, janitors, and other support staff, but not teachers, would shut down most of the province’s 4,800 schools to in-person learning for a second time this month.

In an interview with CP24, Lecce said the union needs to stay at the bargaining table and work with the government to “get a deal that keeps the kids in class.”

Lecce said the government has heard from parents about their children’s mental and physical health, and about “the regression they’re seeing in their kids in basic literacy skills and social skills and development.”

“We should not normalize strikes on children. These have real impacts, especially on the most vulnerable, especially on kids with special education, mental health needs,” said Lecce. “I really want the emphasis to be on children. Because to date, it has been pretty much exclusively about the desire for higher wages.”

CUPE has said there is a general agreement on wages for education workers with the government offering a 3.59 percent wage increase each year for the four years of a new contract, but the union has made what Lecce said are new demands.

“Up until two days ago, it was all about pay, it was only about pay... the union wanted a significant basic increase in wages,” said Lecce.

Besides wage increases, CUPE is also demanding higher numbers of education assistants and other education workers as well as additional support staff.

Negotiations

CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn told CP24 that the “crisis” caused by a strike is unnecessary.

“There are resources available. The financial accountability officer says there’s a [provincial] budget surplus, there are ways in which the government could make these investments and actually help schools that actually help our kids. And that’s really now the focus of bargaining for our folks,” he said on Nov. 17.

CUPE spokesperson Laura Walton told reporters on Nov. 16., “This has never been just about money. This is what the premier and the minister want you to believe—that this is about money in our hands. This has always been about services.”

She said the government refuses to “invest in the services that students need and parents expect.”

According to Lecce, since Doug Ford’s party came into power in 2018, the government has hired more than 7,000 education workers. In September, the province added $680 million in additional funding to public education. In contract talks, the government has committed to funding 1,800 education workers, according to Lecce.

“The union said that the legislation had to be repealed for the strikes to be off the table,” Lecce said. The government withdrew Bill 28 on Nov. 14.

“Two days later, families are being notified of a five-day strike notice that will impose hardship on 2 million kids. I think that is unfair, I don’t think it demonstrates the best interest of kids. They’ve been through a lot, and they deserve to be in class,” said Lecce.

The government said it will continue to stay at the bargaining table and work with the mediator but has told schools to implement contingency plans in case of a walkout.