The Threat of a General Strike Shook Doug Ford’s Ontario Government
Due to walkouts and the threat of a general strike, Ontario’s premier has walked back a bill that would have robbed workers of the right to strike. But Ontario labor’s willingness to defend working-class livelihoods will be needed in forthcoming negotiations.
Ontario premier Doug Ford held a news conference at Queens Park, where he offered to back down in return for CUPE calling off its strike ahead of a news conference from Canadian unions calling for escalated strike action, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on November 7, 2022. (Steve Russell / Toronto Star via Getty Images)
On October 31, the Ontario government introduced Bill 28, legislation that preemptively declared strike action illegal for the custodians, early childhood educators, and educational assistants represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). The Ford government further imposed a regressive contract on the 55,000 CUPE education workers.
The announcement prompted 2,500 workers to rally on the lawn of the legislature, chanting “Ford Out!” The union, for its part, reiterated its plan to strike “until further notice.” Education minister Stephen Lecce refused to back down, rejecting calls for a “voluntary deal,” thereby adding to the inevitability of the “illegal strike.”
The so-called illegal strike quickly gathered momentum, morphing into a planned “general strike” of mass demonstrations and walkouts led by Ontario’s public and private sector unions — a situation of mounting labor outrage demanding that Ford promise to renege.
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