This is what happens next after Ontario education workers vote to strike
Ontario education workers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike if negotiations with the province continue to stall but many parents and school staff may be wondering what comes next.
On Monday, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced that employees—including custodians, early childhood educators and school administration staff—voted 96.5 per cent in favour of the action.
So, what happens now?
A vote to strike does not mean that education staff will be on the picket lines straight away. Parents should not expect any immediate disruption in class activities or school schedules.
A strike vote is part of a process that will allow workers to legally take collective work action in the future. If negotiations end up in a stalemate, this gives CUPE the option to start a 17-day strike or lockout countdown in an effort to move bargaining forward.
The union must also give five days’ notice before starting any job action, including a work-to-rule campaign, a lockout or a strike.
The last time education workers negotiated their collective agreements with the Ontario government in 2019, a breakdown of a last-minute mediation resulted in a work-to-rule campaign. During the campaign, there was a partial withdrawal of services performed by support staff, including the cleaning of hallways, gyms and offices, as well as garbage pickup outside of school.
A five-day notice of a province-wide strike was issued a few days later, and a tentative deal was reached after some last minute negotiations.
The government is scheduled to sit down with the union again on Oct. 17 and Oct. 18. However, if no changes are made to wages in the offer, it is unclear if much headway will be made.
CUPE is asking for a wage increase of $3.25 per hour, or an annual increase of about 11.7 per cent. They argue that since salary increases have been capped at one per cent due to Bill 124 for the last three years, this kind of raise is necessary to keep up with inflation.
The government, however, has offered workers making less than $40,000 a year a two per cent raise and everyone else a 1.25 per cent raise for the next four years.
CUPE is also asking for 30 more minutes of paid preparation time each day, five additional paid days prior to the school year and an increase in overtime pay.
With files from Siobhan Morris and the Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.