Ontario education support workers vote to ratify new contract
Ontario education support workers have voted to accept a new deal with the provincial government, putting an end to a long and contentious negotiation process.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents about 55,000 workers, announced the ratification of the contract on Monday morning.
According to the bargaining committee, about 73 per cent of members voted to accept the tentative agreement.
“For the first time in a decade, education workers have achieved a collective agreement that did not impose terms through legislation,” the union said in a statement.
The union said they had “unprecedented member engagement,” with about 76 per cent of its members participating in the ratification vote.
Under the new agreement, all workers would receive a $1 flat rate hourly wage increase, or about 3.59 per cent annually. The government has said this would result in a “significant pay increase” for the union’s lowest paid members.
The bargaining committee also secured repayment for the two days workers participated in a political protest due to Bill 28—legislation that mandated a lesser contract onto workers and made it illegal for them to strike.
A tentative agreement was only reached when education workers agreed to end their province-wide strike in exchange for the government rescinding the legislation.
Laura Walton, the president of CUPE's Ontario School Boards Council of Unions, said she was proud of her members for standing their ground.
“We stared down this government. After a decade of being dictated to, we refused to back down even when our rights to bargain and strike were stripped from us,” she told reporters at a news conference held Monday.
“We shook this province with our protests. We showed Ontarians that you can stand up to a bully for what is just and right. And we ended up with a deal that more than doubled the wage increase that the government tried to force upon us.”
Walton, who previously said she was dissatisfied with the contract as it did not include new money for services or staffing, said she was one of the individuals who voted to accept the agreement.
“I was once told back in my early years that good negotiations mean that both parties walk away disappointed,” she told reporters on Monday, adding that she did expect the results to be “tighter” than it was.
“I think what this showed is we made the right choice as a bargaining committee to bring the deal back to the workers.”
Walton noted that CUPE’s members are “setting the tone” for other unions currently undergoing their own public bargaining, including those representing teachers in Ontario.
“We will stand beside them, and we are going to continue fighting.”
Education Minister Stephen Lecce wouldn’t comment on whether they would match this level of salary increase with other unions, saying those discussions are happening “in good faith at the table.”
“We are so pleased we were able to reach an agreement that has been overwhelmingly ratified by the members that keeps kids in the classroom and preserves the learning experience for children,” he told reporters after Question Period.
However, when asked by reporters multiple times whether his government would use the notwithstanding clause as a response to negotiations by other unions, Lecce refused to give a yes or no answer.
“We've been clear that we're going to negotiate in good faith to later deal,” he said, adding that the government has said it won't put forward legislation similar to Bill 28. “Our preference and I think our commitment quite clearly is to negotiate in good faith at the table.”
Members had until Dec. 4 to choose whether to accept or reject the deal.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.