Ontario education support workers vote to ratify new contract
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.
A gay man is taking the federal government to court, challenging the constitutionality of a policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
A suicide bomber who killed 101 people at a mosque in northwest Pakistan this week had disguised himself in a police uniform and did not raise suspicion among guards, the provincial police chief said on Thursday.
When the opera 'La Flambeau' premieres next week in Montreal, Black performers will be front and centre in an artistic medium where they have historically been under-represented.
In Washington progress on police brutality appears difficult, if not unlikely. Bipartisan efforts to reach an agreement on policing legislation stalled more than a year ago, and President Joe Biden ended up instead signing an executive order named for George Floyd, whose murder at the hands of Minneapolis police set off nationwide protests nearly three years ago.
A gay man issues a court challenge over Canada's policy restricting sperm bank donations, a Quebec woman is surprised to find her stolen car had been used in brazen Ontario robbery, and actor Ryan Reynolds drops by a Toronto college and surprises students. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
Canada's new special representative on combating Islamophobia has apologized for words that hurt Quebecers after leaders in that province called for her resignation.
Longueuil police (SPAL) arrested Gilles Croteau, 57, in the Saint-Hubert borough on Jan. 24 after an investigation that led to 31 arrests across Quebec for various sex offences, including child pornography possession and production.
It's Groundhog Day! Canadians are waiting to learn whether some furry critters in Nova Scotia and Ontario will predict an early spring, or six more weeks of winter.
Bostwick Road has reopened following a serious crash on Wednesday evening. Around 7:20 p.m., emergency crews responded to the scene in south London for the incident involving two vehicles.
On Wednesday, London International Airport and Flair Airlines announced the newest destination out of London, Ont., and if you’re a fan of Slurpees, then you might just be in luck.
Wiarton Willie is set to make his spring prediction Thursday at 8:07 a.m. If the groundhog sees his shadow it will mean another six weeks of winter, but if he doesn’t, we could get an early spring.
A hearing is underway to determine if Udo Haan is not criminally responsible for the death of his wife Edra Haan, who was found in the aftermath of the 2018 house explosion in Kitchener, Ont.
Chief Mark Crowell made a presentation at a council meeting Wednesday justifying the proposed $214 million budget for the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS).
A gay man is taking the federal government to court, challenging the constitutionality of a policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned.
Ottawa ranks 45th out of 62 cities across Canada and the United States in a study on downtown recovery, with activity levels at 51 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
While crews have resumed operations in an attempt to open the Rideau Canal Skateway for its 53rd season, an NCC spokesperson tells CTV News Ottawa the canal will not open in time for the first weekend of Winterlude on Friday.
It's Groundhog Day! Canadians are waiting to learn whether some furry critters in Nova Scotia and Ontario will predict an early spring, or six more weeks of winter.
Following a suicide bomb blast that killed more than 100 people in a mosque in Pakistan’s northern city of Peshawar, community leaders in Windsor-Essex are reminding people these attacks are rare and should not be simply dismissed as a byproduct of living in that part of the world.
A new 911 dispatch system in New Brunswick means that now fire departments aren’t getting dispatched to all medical calls leaving residents waiting and first responders in the dark.
Calgary police are looking for suspects involved in an altercation that lasted for approximately an hour, spanned several communities and ended with a gun being fired.
Tsuut'ina Nation Police Service officials are encouraging any local victims to come forward following the arrest of actor Nathan Lee Chasing Horse in Las Vegas on sex assault charges.
The organization regulating medical care and services in Manitoba is apologizing for racism directed towards Indigenous people when accessing health care in the province.
A gay man is taking the federal government to court, challenging the constitutionality of a policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned.
B.C.'s Ministry of Health is continuing its multi-year trend of paying millions more dollars each year to private surgical centres for the delivery of public health care, CTV News has learned.
Changes to the amount of time the public gets to voice their opinion during Surrey City Council meetings has caused controversy among former councillors.
Alberta's former chief medical officer of health has landed a new role in British Columbia. Dr. Deena Hinshaw was named a deputy provincial health officer for B.C. on Wednesday.
