Ontario Passes Back-to-Work Bill, Applies Notwithstanding Clause Ahead of Education Workers’ Strike

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce answers questions in the Ontario Legislature during Question Period on Nov. 1, 2022, as members debate a bill meant to avert a planned strike by 55,000 education workers. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)

The Ontario legislature has passed back-to-work legislation to impose a four-year contract on education workers and make a planned workers’ strike starting Nov. 4 illegal.

However, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) says said its members will still walk off the job on Nov. 4.

Bill 28, or the Keeping Students in Class Act, is applying a notwithstanding clause—which allows the provincial legislature to override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms—to address the disputes involving school board employees, represented by CUPE.

CUPE, which represents about 55,000 education workers who make on average $39,000 a year, has been seeking an annual salary increase of 11.7 percent as well as overtime at twice the regular pay rate, among other demands. On Oct. 30, it gave the Ontario government a five-day notice, saying educational workers would go on strike if its demands were not met.

Bill 28 has set a 2.5 percent annual wage increase for individual workers making less than $43,000 a year and a 1.5 percent increase for all other employees. The union said on Nov. 3 that its latest offer was about half of what was originally proposed, which would be a roughly 6 percent wage increase.

Mediation

Mediation fell apart as the union and the government failed to reach an agreement.

“This is a call to arms for union members, workers, and anyone who believes in Charter rights across Canada. This isn’t just about education workers, this is about the rights of all working people across the country,” Mark Hancock, CUPE national president, said in a news release.

“The message from our leaders here in Ontario is clear: our members are united, and they intend to fight—and they have Canada’s largest union in their corner and we are going to fight alongside them.”

The union said its members will begin a provincewide strike starting Nov. 4, even though Bill 28 has made it illegal, warning parents to make alternative arrangements into next week. CUPE didn’t provide a specific timeline for ending the strike, but said education workers will be off the job “until our members decide otherwise.”

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the province “will use every tool we have to end their disruption.”

Following the Ontario School Board Council of Unions announcing the conclusion of the mediation, Lecce said at a press conference that the province made a “good faith effort,” but CUPE’s refusal to take its threat of a strike off the table left the government no choice but to pass Bill 28.

“For the sake of Ontario’s 2 million students, to keep classrooms open, CUPE has left us with no choice but to pass the Keeping [Students] in Class Act,” Lecce said.

Fines for violating a prohibition on strikes during the term of the collective agreement set out in Bill 28 are up to $4,000 per employee per day, while fines for unions are up to $500,000.

“We are giving our members clear instructions,” said Candace Rennick, CUPE’s national secretary treasurer. “If you are fined on the picket line, you report that fine to your president and you let the union know and we will provide you with further instructions. We are in the process of seeking legal support on that.”

“If the government of Ontario wants to clog up the justice system with $4,000 per member per day fines, then I say bring it on.”

Schools to Close During Strike

Many school boards across the province, including the Toronto District School Board, have said schools will be closed during the strike, while others are planning to shift to online learning.

In a memo obtained by The Canadian Press, the Ontario Ministry of Education has urged school boards to “implement contingency plans, where every effort is made to keep schools open for as many children as possible.”

If boards determine they can’t safely open schools without the CUPE members, the ministry said “school boards must support students in a speedy transition to remote learning.”

The Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA) said many boards are closing schools for the duration of the CUPE strike.

“Where schools are closed to in-person learning it is because they are unable to maintain the healthy and safe operation of schools for students without these critical education workers,” OPSBA president Cathy Abraham said in a statement on Nov. 3.

“We hope this disruption is short-lived and that we can get back to in-person learning as soon as possible.”

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.