CUPE's education support workers union is getting ready to strike for the second time in three weeks, even after it and the Ford government got over the biggest hurdle to settling a new collective bargaining agreement.
CUPE's Ontario School Board Council of Unions gave a five-day strike notice on Wednesday, meaning its members could walk off the job on Monday if its tense negotiations with the government aren't complete by then. Talks will continue between the union and government in the hope of reaching a deal before then, leaders from each side said Wednesday.
After months of negotiations, CUPE and the government have found common ground on pay increases for the union's workers, according to its president Laura Walton. The two sides have agreed on a blanket wage increase of $1-per-hour, per year (a roughly 3.6-per-cent increase) over four years for its members, according to Walton and another source close to the talks.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said at Queen's Park that the government had increased its offer by "hundreds of millions of dollars across the sector, especially for the lowest-income workers."
It was only a few weeks ago that either side budged from its opening offer on pay.
The CUPE union wanted almost 12 per cent annual raises for its workers, while the government at first offered two per cent raises each year for workers making less than a $40,000/year salary, and 1.25 per cent annual increases for those earning more.
CUPE's Ontario School Board Council of Unions has some 55,000 members who work as custodians, educational assistants, early childhood educators, secretaries, and other school-system support staff. They're many of the lowest-paid education workers in the province.
The CUPE union has prepared for its members to take job action because it's not satisfied by the agreed-upon wage bump unless the government also promises to increase the amount of support staff in schools, Walton said at the press conference where she announced its strike notice.
CUPE said in a press release that it's still bargaining for guarantees that more educational assistants, librarians, custodians, secretaries and lunchroom supervisors be hired in Ontario's education system, and that there be an early childhood educator in every kindergarten class.
"This has never been just about money," Walton said. "That's what the premier and the minister want you to believe — that this is all about money in our hands. This has always been about the services."
Meanwhile, Lecce criticized the union's decision to give notice of another strike as being "unnecessary."
"I think it is entirely unfair to children. It's unnecessary," Lecce said. "We should be having these discussions at the table to get a deal for (Walton's) members and for our (province's) kids."
Negotiations between CUPE's education support workers union and the government already reached a breaking point a few weeks ago after CUPE gave notice of its first strike on Oct. 30.
Four days later the Ford government passed its controversial Bill 28 using the notwithstanding clause to override Charter rights to force CUPE-represented education support workers under contract and outlaw them from striking.
The law imposed a four-year deal that stipulated 2.5 per cent annual raises for workers earning less than $43,000/year, and 1.5 per cent annual raises for those making more.
Despite Bill 28 making it illegal, tens of thousands of CUPE's members went on strike anyway. Hundreds of Ontario's schools closed to in-person learning during the two days of strikes. On the morning of the second day, Ford backtracked, offering to repeal the bill if CUPE's members returned to work.
CUPE accepted and the two sides resumed formal contract talks the next day.
On Wednesday, Lecce didn't categorically rule out the possibility that CUPE's workers could be legislated back to work, but said the government is focused on settling a deal through negotiations.
Ford also hasn't ruled out using back-to-work legislation, or the notwithstanding clause, again while he's premier.
READ MORE: Ford won’t say if he’ll use notwithstanding clause or back-to-work legislation again
The Ford government chose to backtrack on Bill 28 after a weekend in which many of the country's most powerful unions and labour groups rallied behind CUPE's education workers against the law.
Labour Minister Monte McNaughton told QP Briefing on Wednesday that while he must be neutral on the government's negotiations with education unions that "it's in the best interests of everyone to get a deal on the table."
He held that same position even while the government was passing Bill 28.
McNaughton is responsible for much of the legwork of the Progressive Conservatives' "working for workers" — and the renewed support by private sector unions that the PCs have received.
Some of the unions that came to CUPE's defence after Bill 28 was passed backed the PCs in this spring's election. Leaders of these unions put pressure on Ford and McNaughton after the law was passed, which is in part why the government changed its tack, according to reporting by The Canadian Press.
READ MORE: Ontario PCs spent years laying groundwork for worker-friendly strategy
CUPE has been in talks with the government for a new collective bargaining agreement since the summer. Each of Ontario's major education system workers' unions' previous contracts expired at the end of August. They're all still bargaining with the Ford government.
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