Ontario Labour Relations Board Hearing Continues in Effort to Decide Fate of Education Workers’ Strike

CUPE members and supporters join a demonstration near Member of Provincial Parliament of Ontario Lisa MacLeod’s office in Ottawa on Nov. 4, 2022. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)

Ontario’s labour relations board is set to hear another day of testimony on the government’s application to stop job action from thousands of education workers who walked off the job on Nov. 4.

The board began hearing arguments on Nov. 3 after Education Minister Stephen Lecce filed an application following the proclamation of the Keeping Students in Class Act the same day.

In a tweet the next day, Lecce said that the provincial government is “using every tool available” to “end this illegal strike and get kids back to class.”

The province’s submission to the Ontario Labour Relations Board alleged that the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has “called or authorized or threatened to call or authorize an unlawful strike.”

The province also alleged that Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions, and Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario, “counselled, procured, supported, authorized, threatened, or encouraged an unlawful strike.'’

CUPE, which represents 55,000 education workers, filed a written response to the labour board on Nov. 4, arguing that its job action is a “legitimate political protest.”

In addition, Walton and Hahn “deny that they authorized, counselled, procured, supported or encouraged an unlawful strike and that its members have engaged in an unlawful strike,” the response filed with the board said.

The union has sought to have both Lecce and Assistant Deputy Minister of Education Andrew Davis testify, but Board Chair Bryan O'Byrne said Lecce is granted immunity through parliamentary privilege.

Davis, who O'Byrne initially said will be asked to provide evidence, need not testify at the hearing after a lawyer for CUPE said he would not call upon the assistant deputy minister to do so.

Instead, lawyers for both the government and the union will present arguments for a second day.

Union’s Demands

Education workers represented by CUPE gathered at politicians’ offices on Nov. 4, including at Lecce’s constituency office in Vaughan, Ontario. A large crowd also picketed at the provincial legislature at Queen’s Park.

The demonstrators, consisting of education assistants, custodians, and librarians, were protesting against the Ford government for passing Bill 28, the Keeping Students in Class Act, which will impose a four-year contract on them.

The bill also applies a notwithstanding clause, which lets the provincial legislature override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to address disputes involving school board employees.

CUPE is demanding an annual wage increase of 11.7 percent, as well as overtime at twice the regular pay rate and 30 minutes of paid prep time per day for educational assistants and early childhood educators.

On Oct. 30, it gave the Ontario government five days’ notice, saying educational workers would go on strike if its demands were not met.

The province had been offering a raise of 2 percent a year for workers making less than $40,000 and 1.25 percent for all others.

Hours after CUPE’s notice, Lecce announced a new deal that would give a 2.5 percent annual raise 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.

CUPE said framing it in that way is not accurate because the raise actually depends on hourly wages and pay scales, so the majority of workers who earn less than $43,000 in a year wouldn’t get 2.5 percent.

On Nov. 3, the union said it made a final offer of about half of what was originally proposed, which would be about a 6 percent wage increase.

‘Solidarity Actions’

Cupe has said the strike will continue for an indefinite time. Many school boards across the province, including the Toronto District School Board, Peel District School Board, and Toronto Catholic District School Board, have announced school closures or a shift to online learning.

Other unions have expressed support for CUPE’s protest. The Ontario Federation of Labour, for example, has called for “solidarity actions” from members, urging them to communicate their support by holding placards and banners at busy intersections across the province on Nov. 5.

In a statement issued on Nov. 2, the Provincial Building and Construction Trade Council of Ontario said it is “deeply concerned about the potential removal of collective bargaining rights impacting educational workers.”

“We strongly encourage both sides—CUPE and the Government—to continue negotiations in good faith in the pursuit of a fair contract that benefits everyone,” it said.

Andrew Chen and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.