Ontario Introduces Back to Work Legislation for Education Workers to Avert Strike

Union says its members will proceed with 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

The Ontario government has introduced legislation to keep kids in class, impose a contract on education workers, and avert any possible strike action this Friday.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce said in a press conference on Oct. 31 that the move is in response to the refusal by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) to withdraw their intent to strike on Nov. 4.

“If we do not act today with legislation, schools will close on Friday,” said Lecce, referring to the “Keeping Students in Class” Act.

CUPE, which represents about 55,000 education workers, has been seeking annual salary increases of 11.7 percent as well as overtime at twice the regular pay rate, 30 minutes of paid prep time per day for educational assistants and early childhood educators, and an increase in benefits and professional development for all workers.

The Ontario government had been offering raises of two percent a year for workers making less than $40,000 and 1.25 percent for all others.

On Oct. 30, CUPE announced that it was giving the required five days of notice to start a strike across the province following unsuccessful negotiations with the Ford government.

Hours after CUPE’s notice, Lecce announced a new deal that would give 2.5 percent annual raises to workers making less than $43,000 and 1.5 percent for all others over a four-year contract, which was rejected by the union.

“We made an offer to CUPE yesterday. We attempted to resolve our differences by working with a well-respected mediator. But CUPE yesterday failed to make any substantial concessions on their demands,” Lecce told reporters on Oct. 31.

“And now CUPE [has] made it clear their intention to strike starting Friday.”

A masked crossing guard walks away from a school in Toronto on Nov. 30, 2020. The Canadian Press/Frank Gunn

The Act, if passed before Nov. 4, will see the Ontario government impose the contract on education workers, including educational assistants, early childhood educators, library workers, and custodians, and ban them from going on strike.

Prior to Lecce’s press conference on the same day, representatives from CUPE told reporters that their members will continue to stage a provincewide “protest” on Nov. 4 despite the government tabling the legislation. This means they will still walk off the job that day.

Laura Walton, president of the CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions, said whether workers continue to protest after Friday “will be left up to what happens.”

A press release by Lecce’s office implies that the Ford government will invoke the notwithstanding clause to protect the Act in the event of any constitutional challenges from CUPE and its members.

“To protect against legal challenges, which may create destabilizing uncertainty for students and families, this Act would provide that it shall operate notwithstanding sections 2, 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and despite the Human Rights Code,” the release said.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report