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Ontario’s Education Workers Are Heading Back to the Picket Line

By
Mitchell Thompson

Less than two weeks ago, Ontario education workers ended a strike and came to the table to negotiate with the province. Now, in a fight not just for wages but for classroom conditions, 50,000 workers are set to strike again on Monday if a new deal is not reached.

Canadian Union leaders from public and private sectors gather for a press conference after Premier Doug Ford offered to back down in return for CUPE calling off its strike ahead of the Canadian Unions calling for escalated strike action.

Laura Walton of CUPE-OSBCU and other Canadian union leaders gather for a press conference after Premier Doug Ford offered to back down in return for CUPE calling off its strike ahead of the Canadian unions calling for escalated strike action. Toronto, November 7, 2022. (Steve Russell / Toronto Star via Getty Images)

In the wake of a strike earlier this month, Ontario’s right-wing government is pressing on with its fight to maintain low staff levels in the education sector. As a result, the Canadian Union of Public Employees’ (CUPE) school board council has issued yet another strike notice.

According to reports, talks broke down because the government refused to extend hours and coverage for the province’s Early Childhood Educators (ECEs), Educational Assistants, and custodians. The labor actions were never simply about pay. Classroom conditions are also of paramount concern for education workers, for both themselves and for students. Because the government also refuses to protect these workers from the periodic threat of mass layoffs, the fight has been rekindled. On Monday, if a new deal is not reached by Sunday at 5:00 p.m., fifty thousand workers are set to walk off the job.

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On November 16, after months of threats, cuts, and direct attacks by the Ford government, CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) issued its mandatory five-day strike notice. At issue, this time, is the government’s resistance to increasing staffing levels — after nearly four years of “one-time” funding to fill the gap — and ensuring that hours aren’t cut.

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