THUNDER BAY – Local education workers were out in force on Friday morning, defying provincial legislation that imposed a contract settlement and required them to be at work, picketing instead outside local Progressive Conservative MPP Kevin Holland’s newly opened James Street constituency office.
About 85 picketers were marching back and forth on Friday morning, mostly Canadian Union of Public Employee (CUPE) members protesting Bill 28 and Premier Doug Ford’s use of the notwithstanding clause to override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to impose the settlement, instead of continuing negotiations.
The union earlier this week served a province-wide notice of intent to strike, affecting cafeteria workers, secretaries and custodians at schools across Ontario.
Devin Klassen, the head shop steward for CUPE Local 2486 and a custodian at Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute, said his union is standing up for all workers in its opposition of Bill 28, which the province passed on Thursday night.
“It affects all workers. It restricts their ability to negotiate a contract, and it’s a bill that’s shameful and disrespectful to the hardworking people in the province of Ontario,” Klassen said.
“It’s shameful what they’re doing with the notwithstanding clause. It’s a road that they didn’t have to take. It would appear that the intent of this government was to always pass legislation to force a contract upon workers. It’s taking away the freedoms that are protected under our charter of rights. It’s great to see so many people supporting CUPE.”
CUPE members, whose lowest-paid education workers make $39,000 a year, were seeking an annual increase of $3.25 per hour per year of the contract, a number the province has said is not affordable and would set a precedent for negotiations with other school-based unions.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said he’s seeking legal recourse to end the illegal strike.
“Immediately following proclamation of the Keeping Students in Class Act, we filed a submission to the Ontario Labour Relations Board in response to CUPE’s illegal strike action. Proceedings started last night and will continue today,” Lecce said in a release issued to media.
“Nothing matters more right now than getting all students back in the classroom and we will use every tool available to us to do so.”
Schools in Thunder Bay remain open, despite the union walking out, but cafeteria services at the city’s three public high schools has been suspended on Friday and staff have been told not to perform work that would normally be done by CUPE members.
Alyssa McGee, the Thunder Bay CUPE lead, called the passage of Bill 28 disturbing and unfortunate.
Negotiations are about a lot more than raises for union members, she said.
“A lot of our proposal is also about the kids – more funding for the schools, to get all the staff back in the schools that have been cut, a designated early childhood educator in every classroom, and educational assistant for kids who need it,” McGee said.
“We want more staff in the school so we can get back to every day cleaning. Even in town, there are a lot of schools that are on alternate cleaning, which means your child’s classroom only gets cleaned every second day. There are a lot of big asks, and they’re important.”
McGee said Bill 28 has little to do with keeping kids in class.
“If it was really about the kids, then they would have been at the bargaining table last night, but they weren’t.”
Holland, stuck in Toronto due to fog, was not at his office on Friday.
