Toronto
Ontario's education minister says he is introducing legislation today to avert a looming strike by support staff because the government is "unyielding" in its commitment to keep kids in the classroom.
Stephen Lecce says it is in response to the refusal by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents about 55,000 education workers, to withdraw their intent to strike on Friday.
He is set to introduce legislation at 1 p.m. to impose a contract on the workers and not allow them to legally walk off the job.
The government had been offering raises of two per cent a year for workers making less than $40,000 and 1.25 per cent for all others, and Lecce says the new deal would give 2.5-per-cent annual raises to workers making less than $43,000 and 1.5 per cent raises for all others.
He says kids faced disruption in schools with teacher job action three years ago, which was then followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Lecce says nothing should stand in the way of a kid's right to learn.
The union says it will be looking at every avenue to fight the legislation.
A decade ago, the then-Liberal government passed legislation known as Bill 115, which froze some education workers' wages and limited their ability to strike.
Unions won a court challenge years later, with the judge ruling that the government "substantially interfered with meaningful collective bargaining" and Ontario was left having to pay more than $100 million in remedies to the unions.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2022.
Banner image via The Canadian Press
