Ontario education workers union to release contract ratification vote results
The union representing Ontario’s 55,000 education workers plans to release the result of its contract ratification vote tomorrow.
Online voting opened on Nov. 24 and is set to conclude Sunday, exactly two weeks after the union’s central bargaining committee reached a tentative agreement with the provincial government. The deal averted a strike, which was set to get underway on Monday, Nov. 21.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. Monday at Queen’s Park.
The union, whose members include custodians, education assistants, early childhood educators, and administrative staff who work in the province’s public, Catholic, English, and French school boards, initially planned to unveil the results on Tuesday.
CUPE officials are recommending members ratify the four-year contract, which has an average wage increase of 3.59 per cent in each year.
The terms of the agreement were mandated into a contract for the workers under Bill 28, the “Keeping Students in Class Act”, which used the notwithstanding clause to make it illegal for workers to go on strike. The province rescinded that bill following two days of protests and a promise to return to talks with the union.
If CUPE members vote to reject the latest deal, both sides could go back to the bargaining table and CUPE could give another strike notice.
“This tentative agreement is our first in 10 years to be freely bargained instead of forced on us with legislative interference,” said Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Boards Council of Unions, in a Dec. 2 release.
“For the last week and a half, frontline education workers have been deciding if what’s in this tentative agreement is acceptable. This – workers having the freedom to negotiate and to withdraw our labour if necessary – is democracy in action.”
Walton, an educational assistant from Belleville, has said she does not like the agreement as it doesn't include new staffing guarantees.
Speaking to briefly to reporters following CUPE’s Nov. 20 no-strike announcement, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the agreement is a “positive outcome for all parties.”
“The biggest beneficiary of this deal is our kids, who are going to have some stability and be able to stay in school,” he said.
“We are grateful to all parties for working with the government. … Kids deserve to be in class and I’m proud to confirm they will be tomorrow.”
Lecce, who would not speak to the specifics of the agreement, said there have been some “incremental wins” for both sides and that “every party leaves the table with something that they wanted to advance.”
“The greatest beneficiary of this deal is our kids who are going to be in school. That's what matters. This is not about unions winning or government winning,” he said, calling the agreement a “material win for working parents.”
Lecce said regardless of the ratification vote outcome, the province government intends to stay at the table and would continue to have “good faith negotiations” with Ontario’s four other key education unions that are currently in contract negotiations.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV Toronto’s Katherine DeClerq.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.