Ontario education workers announce mass walkout amid back-to-work legislation
CTV
A union representing tens of thousands of school support workers is vowing to hold a province-wide day of protest on Friday, even as the government formally tables legislation intended to block them from striking.
A union representing tens of thousands of school support workers is vowing to hold a province-wide day of protest on Friday, even as the government formally tables legislation intended to block them from striking.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce preventively tabled legislation on Monday afternoon which will “terminate any on-going strike” by the Canadian Union of Public Employees and instead impose a new four-year collective agreement on the approximately 55,000 members represented by the union.
But in a news conference held at Queen’s Park following the tabling of the “Keeping Students in Schools Act,” CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn promised that school support staff still intend to walk off the job on Friday as part of a day of protest.
At this point it remains unclear whether the planned job action will continue on Monday. Asked about the possibility of a prolonged wildcat strike, the president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions Laura Walton would only say that “will be left up to what happens.”
CUPE represents approximately 55,000 school support staff, including custodians, early childhood educators, education assistants, and administration staff
“On Friday, regardless of what this legislation says our members will be engaging in a province-wide protest. That means no CUPE education workers will be at work. Instead we will be taking a stand for public education for ourselves and for our future,” Hahn said. “Our union and others have been effective in challenging governments in the courts and we won but all too late for workers. Enough is enough. We may in fact challenge this in court but we are first going to challenge it in our communities. We are not going to allow our rights to be legislated away.”
The move to introduce back-to-work legislation comes one day after CUPE provided the required five days of notice to formally begin job action.
Epcor says a chlorinelike smell or taste to Edmonton’s water is the natural result of treating spring runoff and that the water is still safe to drink.
Almost 13 years after the City of Calgary suffered its historic flood, six properties along the city’s Elbow River are now being sold.
Police in Surrey, B.C., are investigating an overnight shooting at a business in the city’s Cloverdale area.
Nearly 15,000 full-time equivalent positions will be cut in federal departments over the next three years, as part of the federal government’s plan to find $60 billion in savings by 2029.
Police in Timmins have released photos of an 18-year-old suspect wanted for shooting a man to death last November.
A crossing guard is being treated for serious injuries after he was struck by a vehicle during the morning commute in Barrhaven.
British Columbia’s river forecaster has rescinded the high streamflow advisories that covered southern parts of the province after heavy rains last week.
It’s an extra long March Break for some students in Nova Scotia following a spring snowfall.
Ontario to seize ownership of Toronto Island Airport lands and declare it is a special economic zone
Premier Doug Ford says the provincial government will be seizing ownership of city-owned lands at Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport and declaring it a special economic zone, invoking new powers that will allow it to override environmental and other regulations.
Saskatchewan’s highest court has dismissed an appeal in the case of a years-long land dispute between the Village of Buena Vista and local landowners.
A participant in the 18th Annual Montreal Lake Walleye Derby is alleged to have violated derby rules over the weekend.
Three byelections are being held on April 13 and the results could have an impact on both the makeup of Parliament and how long it lasts. Here’s a primer on how things could change.
A member of Manitoba’s government caucus and the first First Nations woman elected to the province’s legislature has died.