The North Bay and District Labour Council will host an emergency rally on Tuesday, November 1 at 5 p.m. at MPP Vic Fedeli's office at 219 Main St. E. in North Bay.
"Hands off workers' rights," says Henri Giroux, president of the local Labour Council. "Ford’s attack on education workers is an attack on all workers in Ontario. If he gets away with it, all workers will face the same threat: contracts imposed by law instead of free collective bargaining."
See related: Ontario to pre-emptively legislate education workers staff back to work
See also: Education workers give five days notice of potential strike
Giroux adds, "Join us to say: 'Hands Off Workers’ Rights!' We encourage you to bring a homemade sign of your choice and make some noise! I hope to see you
Tuesday!"
The Ford government’s introduction of the Keeping Students in Class Act is a full-frontal attack on basic labour freedoms in Ontario, says the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL). The legislation pulls the plug on bargaining with education workers and imposes an unreasonable four-year contract.
It's a "dark day for Ontario workers. By introducing this legislation before education workers have even exercised their Charter-protected right to strike, the Ford government is attempting to short-circuit the bargaining process and strip workers of a fundamental freedom," says Patty Coates, Ontario Federation of Labour president. "Doug Ford and his government are once again telling workers across the province that their rights don’t matter.”
See: CUPE to stage provincewide protest Friday in response to Ontario's ban on strike
And: Canada's largest school board to close Friday as education workers plan protest
CUPE represents approximately 55,000 Ontario education workers, including librarians, custodians and early childhood educators. Following the tabling of legislation, Monday, the union announced its members will walk off the job on Friday.
Laura Walton, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employee's Ontario School Board Council of Unions, said whether workers continue to protest after Friday "will be left up to what happens," according to a Canadian Press report.
"We want to make sure that there's no issues, litigation or otherwise, that could essentially get these kids back out of class because of strikes locally or provincially," Education Minister Stephen Lecce said Monday.
Lecce added, "This proposal, this legislation, provides absolute stability for kids to the extent we can control it and ensures they remain in a classroom, that nothing, nothing at all now or in the future could prevent a child's right to be in a classroom learning."
The OFL says the Charter of Rights and Freedoms enshrines the right of Canadians to a free and fair collective bargaining process and the Supreme Court of Canada has found that the right to exercise economic sanctions, such as the right to strike, forms an integral part of that process. In addition to violating workers’ constitutional right to strike, the Keeping Students in Class Act enforces a concessionary contract on Ontario’s 55,000 education workers — the lowest
paid workers in the education system — many of whom are women workers and workers of colour.
The bill unilaterally imposes woefully low wage increases — well below inflation — on low-income employees who have previously been subjected to three years of 1 per cent increases under Bill 124; inadequate protections against job cuts; no paid prep time for education workers who work directly with students; a cut to the sick leave/short-term disability plan; and many other imposed terms which penalize employees. All told, the imposed compensation changes amount to a mere $200 in the pockets of workers earning on average $39,000 and facing 7 per cent inflation.
According to the OFL, the Ford government plans to ram through this legislation that tramples on workers’ rights by once again invoking the notwithstanding clause; this time, the Keeping Students in Class Act overrides Ontario workers’ constitutional rights for up to five years. This clause allows the
government to override almost any section of the Charter through a vote of the legislature. The Ford government’s use of these extraordinary powers is a
clear attack on the democratic rights of workers. The Ford Conservatives are the first Canadian government to use the notwithstanding clause to override constitutionally protected labour rights.
"The labour movement calls on the government to withdraw this legislation, get back to the bargaining table, and negotiate in good faith. Education
workers deserve a fair deal, not a contract imposed on them by law,” adds Coates. "The Keeping Students in Class Act is an attack on every union member,
every worker, every student, and every parent in this province. If we allow Doug Ford to get away with it, all other workers will face the same threat:
contracts imposed by law instead of free collective bargaining. We won’t let it happen. We will defend the right to fight for our schools, good jobs, decent
wages, and a better life.”
The OFL will also be holding an emergency rally Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the Ministry of Labour headquarters, 400 University Ave., Toronto.
