Ontario education workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) have voted to accept a four-year contract with the province, with 73 percent of its 55,000 members voting in favour. Laura Walton, a spokesperson for CUPE said at a press conference on Dec. 5 that 76 percent of members, about 41,000, voted in…

The tentative government deal offered to Ontario education support workers threatening a strike would provide the lowest-paid members a 4.2 percent yearly salary increase, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said Monday at a press conference. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) represents librarians, early childhood educators, janitors, and other school support staff. Instead of the…

At nearly the final hour of bargaining, before a scheduled strike of 55,000 education support workers would have shut down most Ontario schools tomorrow, the government said a tentative agreement has been reached with the union after intense weekend bargaining. At a news conference today, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the deal “will provide stability…

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said today the government continues to be willing to negotiate with the union representing 55,000 education support staff, in order to avert a planned strike on Nov.21. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) gave the government a five-day strike notice on Nov. 16 after collective agreement bargaining broke down….

Commentary Visit any major school board’s website, and you will find plenty of lip service to putting students first. But you won’t often see it in practice. For example, the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) in southern Ontario recently released its new strategic plan. The plan’s key feature is an inverse organizational chart which…

One day after an anti-strike law was repealed by the Ontario government, the union representing education support staff in the province has again delivered a five-day strike notice to the government, saying they will walk off the job because contract talks have broken down. A strike could shut down schools on Nov. 21, for the…

Ontario schools reopened for in-person learning today after Premier Doug Ford said he “extended an olive branch” to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents 55,000 education support staff. Ford said Bill 28, the back-to-work legislation that used the notwithstanding clause to impose a four-year contract on education workers, would be repealed if…

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) says it will end its strike of over 55,000 education workers across Ontario following a promise by the provincial government to rescind its use of the notwithstanding clause if the workers return to schools. “We have received and can confirm that the premier will introduce and support legislation…

The union representing thousands of education workers striking across Ontario for higher compensation says it will be calling for general strike action from other unions, both public and private, across the province on Monday. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents over 55,000 education workers, says it will be holding a press conference…

Commentary Ontario Premier Doug Ford passed Bill 28, or the Keeping Students in Class Act, on Nov. 3 to prevent roughly 55,000 education support workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees from going on strike. The provincial government also received royal assent to include Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,…