Ferina Murji said strikes are prohibited amid any contract, not just one ratified by union members. “A collective agreement is a collective agreement is a collective agreement,” he said. Murji made the comments on the third day of arguments before the board, after thousands of workers walked off the job on Friday in protest at government legislation that imposed a contract on them and stripped them of the right to strike.
Read more: Ontario’s fight against education workers to leave continues at labor hearing
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‘Uncharted territory’: Ontario’s fight against education workers to walk out continues at labor hearing
Story continues below ad The government is seeking to rule that their walkout is illegal, while the Canadian Union of Public Employees — which represents education workers — argues that the job action is a form of legitimate political protest. The strike closed many schools across the province on Friday, and more will close on Monday if the work stoppage continues. “With 55,000 people out of school across the province, that means millions of students and their parents have nowhere to go, they don’t learn, they don’t get the education that the Education Act ensures,” Murji said, stressing the importance of board intervention. Current trend
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Board President Brian O’Byrne heard arguments over 16 hours on Saturday, with the hearing stretching into the early hours of Sunday before resuming a few hours later at 7am. As Day 3 of the hearing began, O’Byrne noted the “frantic and sleep-deprived context of the hearings,” which he said he hoped to wrap up on Sunday. “I accept that Bill 28 is written. But it’s not a voluntarily negotiated agreement,” CUPE lawyer Stephen Barrett said on Saturday. 2:18 Saturday solidarity rallies for striking CUPE education workers “It is considered to be a collective agreement under Section 5 … but to call this a mid-contract withdrawal of services, as if it were a freely negotiable collective agreement, is a fundamental absurdity.” Story continues below ad Barrett told O’Byrne that if he deems the strike legal, the job action could continue until the government repeals the new legislation or until the union and government negotiate an end to it. The government’s new law has set fines for breaking the ban on strikes of up to $4,000 per worker per day – which could rise to $220 million for all 55,000 workers – and up to $500,000 per day for the union. CUPE said it would fight the fines, but pay them if necessary. © 2022 The Canadian Press
