BY Brett Wilkins,
November 5, 2022
Defying new legislation fast-tracked by right-wing Ontario Premier Doug Ford outlawing strikes, more than 55,000 education workers in the Canadian province hit the picket lines Friday, vowing to stay in the streets for “as long as it takes” to secure a contract they feel is fair.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) launched what it called “a wake-up call and a call to arms for organized labor across Canada” after Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government on Thursday enacted Bill 28 — the Keeping Students in Class Act — which imposes contracts on CUPE members and prohibits them from striking on pain of a $3,000(USD) daily fine per employee and up to a $371,000(USD) penalty for the union.
The new law also utilizes the notwithstanding clause to shield against constitutional challenges. The controversial legal mechanism has only been invoked twice in Ontario’s history — both times under Ford.
Liberal Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Bill 28 an “attack on one of the most basic rights available, that of collective bargaining.”
Defying new legislation fast-tracked by right-wing Ontario Premier Doug Ford outlawing strikes, more than 55,000 education workers in the Canadian province hit the picket lines Friday, vowing to stay in the streets for “as long as it takes” to secure a contract they feel is fair.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) launched what it called “a wake-up call and a call to arms for organized labor across Canada” after Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government on Thursday enacted Bill 28 — the Keeping Students in Class Act — which imposes contracts on CUPE members and prohibits them from striking on pain of a $3,000(USD) daily fine per employee and up to a $371,000(USD) penalty for the union.
The new law also utilizes the notwithstanding clause to shield against constitutional challenges. The controversial legal mechanism has only been invoked twice in Ontario’s history — both times under Ford.
Liberal Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Bill 28 an “attack on one of the most basic rights available, that of collective bargaining.”
CUPE national president Mark Hancock said in a statement that “this isn’t just about education workers, this is about the rights of all working people across the country.”
“The message from our leaders here in Ontario is clear,”Hancock added. “Our members are united, and they intend to fight — and they have Canada’s largest union in their corner and we are going to fight alongside them.”
CUPE national secretary-treasurer Candace Rennick said that “now is a moment for us to ask ourselves what kind of union we want to be, in the face of the worst piece of legislation we’ve ever seen leveled at the labor movement.”
“Our members have spoken,” she added. “They are prepared to fight. They aren’t part of the largest union in the country for nothing. We are going to have their backs, and we’ll stand with them for as long as it takes.”
According to the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL):
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms enshrines Canadians’ right to a free and fair collective bargaining process, and the Supreme Court of Canada has found that the right to exercise economic sanctions (i.e., 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 color.
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% increases… 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% inflation.
Karen Brown, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, said that by enacting a law that forces a contract on CUPE members, the Ford administration has chosen the “most draconian manner of legislating away two fundamental rights protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: the right to bargain collectively, and the right to strike.”
“The Ford government has signaled it is uninterested in reaching collective agreements that are negotiated freely and fairly,” she added. “And its oppressive use of the notwithstanding clause is another flagrant abuse of power — one that continues to attack democracy by trampling on Ontarians’ constitutional rights.”
Thousands of demonstrators turned out in Toronto’s Queen’s Park on Friday to denounce the Ford administration and show solidarity with the striking workers.
“We need our voices to be heard and for the government to realize this is not acceptable,” Maria Gallant, a school secretary, told CBC News. “We are just asking to be paid what we deserve, nothing more.”
Protesters also rallied outside the office of Education Minister Stephen Lecce in Vaughan.
“You cannot rip away the rights of workers and expect… that we are just going to take it sitting down,” Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions, told Global News.
Others expressed support for the strike on social media.
“We need our voices to be heard and for the government to realize this is not acceptable,” Maria Gallant, a school secretary, told CBC News. “We are just asking to be paid what we deserve, nothing more.”
Protesters also rallied outside the office of Education Minister Stephen Lecce in Vaughan.
“You cannot rip away the rights of workers and expect… that we are just going to take it sitting down,” Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions, told Global News.
Others expressed support for the strike on social media.
Birgit Uwaila Umaigba, an intensive care unit and emergency room nurse who is also clinical course director at Centennial College in Toronto, dropped by a picket line to “protect our democracy.”
“Doug Ford and his retrogressive conservative government crossed the line by enacting Bill 28 and banning 55,000 CUPE members from exercising their fundamental right to strike,” she tweeted.
OFL announced a “Solidarity Saturday” day of action in the province, calling Bill 28 “a full-frontal attack on basic labor freedoms in Ontario.”
“Today is 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,” OFL president Patty Coates said in a statement.
“Doug Ford and his government are once again telling workers across the province that their rights don’t matter,” she added.
Ontario's fight against education workers over walkout continues at labour hearing
TORONTO — Ontario's labour relations board risks undermining the province's labour laws if it fails to declare a walkout by education workers illegal, a government lawyer argued Saturday.
Ontario's fight against education workers over walkout continues at labour hearing
It argued in its board filings that the goal of its members' action is "to express opposition through political protest to the (province's) decision to trample upon employees' constitutionally protected right to collectively bargain and right to strike."
Thousands of education workers, including education assistants, custodians and librarians, walked off the job on Friday to protest the government passing legislation that banned strikes and imposed a four-year contract.
"Irrespective of what label anyone puts on the activity, Mr. Chair, it is a work stoppage. And a work stoppage, with any other name, still amounts to a work stoppage and therefore a strike, full stop," Merji told the hearing.
The job action closed numerous schools, and the union has said the protest could continue indefinitely.
"I do accept that Bill 28 is in writing. But it is not a voluntarily negotiated agreement," said CUPE lawyer Steven Barrett, who called the legislation "Orwellian."
"It is deemed to be a collective agreement under Section 5 ... but to call this a mid-contract withdrawal of services, as if this was a collective agreement freely negotiated, is a fundamental absurdity."
Barrett told O'Byrne that should he deem the strike legal, the job action could continue until the government repeals its new legislation or until the union and government negotiate its end.
"But that isn't your concern," Barrett told the chair. "The job of the labour board is to oversee the collective bargaining system, and in doing so give effect to Charter values and Charter rights. There are many ways in which the government could have avoided students not being in school ... they certainly didn't have to provoke the reason that we're here now, with respect to enacting this unprecedented, horrendous legislation."
CUPE had originally requested that both Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Andrew Davis, the assistant deputy minister, be called to testify before the board.
Board Chair Brian O'Byrne ruled that Lecce is exempt from testifying due to parliamentary privilege, but said Davis could be called to testify.
But after hours of delays, a lawyer for CUPE said he would not call upon Davis to provide evidence, because documents the union also wanted to have submitted into evidence could not be made available.
The government's new law has set fines for violating the ban on strikes of up to $4,000 per employee per day – which could amount to $220 million for all 55,000 workers – and up to $500,000 per day for the union.
CUPE has said it will fight the fines, but will also pay them if it has to.
The British Columbia Teachers' Federation's representative assembly voted to send CUPE Ontario $1 million to help pay the fines, the union said in a post on its Twitter account. The donation comes a day after Unifor pledged to send $100,000 as a show of support for CUPE.
The Progressive Conservative government included the notwithstanding clause in its education-worker legislation, saying it intends to use it to guard against constitutional challenges.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2022.
Nicole Thompson and Tyler Griffin, The Canadian Press
TORONTO — Ontario's labour relations board risks undermining the province's labour laws if it fails to declare a walkout by education workers illegal, a government lawyer argued Saturday.
Ontario's fight against education workers over walkout continues at labour hearing
© Provided by The Canadian Press
Speaking at an Ontario Labour Relations Board hearing that will determine the legality of the walkout by 55,000 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Ferina Merji urged the board's chair to act.
"Ensuring that an unlawful strike is not allowed to continue is a very important labour relations purpose, and if you did not exercise your discretion to do so, it would significantly undermine the very clear prohibition on strike activity that is a key feature of the Labour Relations Act," Merji said.
She said the government's conduct at the bargaining table is irrelevant in an unlawful strike application, and is instead the purview of an unfair labour practice complaint.
"Instead of what is supposed to be an expeditious and narrow factual inquiry into the work stoppage, there'd be a broad inquiry into the history of the labour relationship between the applicant and the respondent," Merji said.
Thousands of education workers, including education assistants, custodians and librarians, walked off the job on Friday to protest the government passing legislation that banned strikes and imposed a four-year contract.
Merji said such a walkout is illegal because the Labour Relations Act prohibits work stoppages while contracts are in operation.
Merji also argued that CUPE leadership knowingly advised education workers to engage in an illegal strike.
She played video of CUPE-Ontario President Fred Hahn saying the union would provide the same benefits to workers that it does in any strike.
Merji also shared video of Laura Walton, president of CUPE Ontario's School Board Council of Unions, comparing the walkout to one that was planned in 2019.
CUPE contends the labour action is a political protest rather than a strike.
Speaking at an Ontario Labour Relations Board hearing that will determine the legality of the walkout by 55,000 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Ferina Merji urged the board's chair to act.
"Ensuring that an unlawful strike is not allowed to continue is a very important labour relations purpose, and if you did not exercise your discretion to do so, it would significantly undermine the very clear prohibition on strike activity that is a key feature of the Labour Relations Act," Merji said.
She said the government's conduct at the bargaining table is irrelevant in an unlawful strike application, and is instead the purview of an unfair labour practice complaint.
"Instead of what is supposed to be an expeditious and narrow factual inquiry into the work stoppage, there'd be a broad inquiry into the history of the labour relationship between the applicant and the respondent," Merji said.
Thousands of education workers, including education assistants, custodians and librarians, walked off the job on Friday to protest the government passing legislation that banned strikes and imposed a four-year contract.
Merji said such a walkout is illegal because the Labour Relations Act prohibits work stoppages while contracts are in operation.
Merji also argued that CUPE leadership knowingly advised education workers to engage in an illegal strike.
She played video of CUPE-Ontario President Fred Hahn saying the union would provide the same benefits to workers that it does in any strike.
Merji also shared video of Laura Walton, president of CUPE Ontario's School Board Council of Unions, comparing the walkout to one that was planned in 2019.
CUPE contends the labour action is a political protest rather than a strike.
Related video: Striking Ontario education workers, supporters vow to fight for their rights
It argued in its board filings that the goal of its members' action is "to express opposition through political protest to the (province's) decision to trample upon employees' constitutionally protected right to collectively bargain and right to strike."
Thousands of education workers, including education assistants, custodians and librarians, walked off the job on Friday to protest the government passing legislation that banned strikes and imposed a four-year contract.
"Irrespective of what label anyone puts on the activity, Mr. Chair, it is a work stoppage. And a work stoppage, with any other name, still amounts to a work stoppage and therefore a strike, full stop," Merji told the hearing.
The job action closed numerous schools, and the union has said the protest could continue indefinitely.
"I do accept that Bill 28 is in writing. But it is not a voluntarily negotiated agreement," said CUPE lawyer Steven Barrett, who called the legislation "Orwellian."
"It is deemed to be a collective agreement under Section 5 ... but to call this a mid-contract withdrawal of services, as if this was a collective agreement freely negotiated, is a fundamental absurdity."
Barrett told O'Byrne that should he deem the strike legal, the job action could continue until the government repeals its new legislation or until the union and government negotiate its end.
"But that isn't your concern," Barrett told the chair. "The job of the labour board is to oversee the collective bargaining system, and in doing so give effect to Charter values and Charter rights. There are many ways in which the government could have avoided students not being in school ... they certainly didn't have to provoke the reason that we're here now, with respect to enacting this unprecedented, horrendous legislation."
CUPE had originally requested that both Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Andrew Davis, the assistant deputy minister, be called to testify before the board.
Board Chair Brian O'Byrne ruled that Lecce is exempt from testifying due to parliamentary privilege, but said Davis could be called to testify.
But after hours of delays, a lawyer for CUPE said he would not call upon Davis to provide evidence, because documents the union also wanted to have submitted into evidence could not be made available.
The government's new law has set fines for violating the ban on strikes of up to $4,000 per employee per day – which could amount to $220 million for all 55,000 workers – and up to $500,000 per day for the union.
CUPE has said it will fight the fines, but will also pay them if it has to.
The British Columbia Teachers' Federation's representative assembly voted to send CUPE Ontario $1 million to help pay the fines, the union said in a post on its Twitter account. The donation comes a day after Unifor pledged to send $100,000 as a show of support for CUPE.
The Progressive Conservative government included the notwithstanding clause in its education-worker legislation, saying it intends to use it to guard against constitutional challenges.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2022.
Nicole Thompson and Tyler Griffin, The Canadian Press
SEE
No comments:
Post a Comment