Lecce rose inside the legislature just after 1 p.m. to introduce the bill, which is titled “An Act to Keep Students in Class.” If passed, the bill would “end any ongoing strike or lockout by, or in relation to, school board employees represented by CUPE.” It will also effectively impose a new four-year collective bargaining agreement on union-represented workers. “Today the Ford government introduced legislation to force low-wage education workers into further poverty,” Laura Walton, who is the president of Ontario’s CUPE School Board of Unions, said during a news conference at Queen’s Park shortly after the filing of the legislation. “Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce’s bill will mean that working people will have to make a decision between putting gas in their car or buying their child a snowsuit, between buying groceries or paying the plumber’s bill ». The tabling of the legislation comes a day after CUPE provided the required five days’ notice to officially begin action from Friday. CUPE represents around 55,000 school support staff, including custodians, nursery teachers, teaching assistants and administrative staff. The workers have been without a collective agreement since August 31, and despite several rounds of talks, a new one has yet to be negotiated.
Stephen Lecce will speak live to the media at 2 p.m. Watch live at CTVNewsToronto.ca
Among other things, CUPE wants an annual wage increase of $3.25/hour (11.7 percent), preschool teachers in every kindergarten classroom, five extra paid days before the start of the school year, 30 minutes of paid daily prep, an increase overtime and an investment of $100 million to create new jobs. The province’s latest offer, proposed in an emergency mediation session Sunday afternoon, is a four-year deal that includes a 2.5 percent annual raise for workers making less than $43,000 and a 1.5 percent annual raise for those making more. That’s up from their original offer of a two percent annual raise for workers making less than $40,000 and a 1.25 percent raise otherwise. After Sunday’s meeting, Lecce said CUPE had not accepted the government’s “most generous” offer and still intended to strike from Friday. He then said the government had “no choice but to introduce legislation which will ensure that pupils stay in class to catch up on their learning”. Back-to-work legislation is expected to be passed by Thursday, preventing a strike. “We believe that children deserve to be in the classroom. That’s why we gave CUPE a chance yesterday and presented a better deal, 10 percent over four years and keeping the best benefits and pension and sick leave programs in the country,” Lecce said during question period this morning of Monday. This is breaking news. More information to follow.
