“As a gesture of good faith our government is willing to rescind the legislation, are willing to rescind section 33, but only if CUPE agrees to show a similar gesture of good faith by stopping their strike, and letting our kids back into their classrooms,” Ford said Monday morning. Ford is joined by Education Minister Stephen Lecce at Queen’s Park. Two hours later, the president of CUPE along with a number of national and provincial labour leaders are expected to announce an escalation in the fightback against Bill 28. This comes as thousands of education workers in the province walkout for the fourth day and a new poll finds six out of 10 Ontarians are blaming the Ford government for the ongoing labour disruption. This is a breaking news story. Previous coverage continues below. Introduced in the Legislative Assembly last Monday by Lecce and passed late Thursday afternoon, the “Keeping Students in Class Act” makes it illegal for CUPE’s education workers to go on strike. It also imposed a four-year contract on them. That legislation passed late Thursday afternoon. A source has told CTV News Toronto that “nothing is off the table” at this point and that that CUPE is looking at what actions other members, outside of the education sector local, can take, including a larger political protest. Ontario’s 55,000 custodians, early childhood education, education assistants, and administrative staff walked off the job last Friday after failing to reach a contract agreement with the Ford government. CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) education workers strike on the picket line in Kingston, Ont., Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars HagbergThe workers have been without a contract since Aug. 31 and despite several rounds of talks, a new collective agreement has yet to be negotiated. Among other things, CUPE wants a yearly wage increase of $3.25/hour (11.7 per cent), early childhood educators in every kindergarten class, five additional paid days before the start of the school year, 30 minutes of paid daily prep time, an increase in overtime pay, and a $100 million investment in new job creation. The Ford government’s latest offer is a four-year deal that includes a 2.5 per cent annual raise for workers who make under $43,000, and a 1.5 per cent yearly wage increase for those who make more. This is up from their initial offer of annual increases of a two per cent raise for workers who make less than $40,000 and a 1.25 per cent raise otherwise. Over the weekend, Ontario Labour Relations Board held a hearing to determine the legality of that job action. A ruling is expected today. A live stream of the press conferences will be availible on CTVNewsToronto.ca
