The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) says it feels like it's being pushed around by the Ford Conservatives in Ontario and contract talks have broken off..The union announced Thursday, minutes before the Education minister was set to address reporters that mediation talks had “concluded.".On Monday, CUPE said the Ontario's government took the "unprecedented step" of proposing legislation that would force a contract on education workers. The union says it believes this will violate workers’ constitutional right to bargain fairly, keeping many workers in poverty, instead of continuing with negotiations.."To pass it, they’ve invoked the notwithstanding clause, overriding the Charters’ protections of the fundamental right to the collective bargaining process," CUPE Ontario stated..READ MORE: CUPE Ontario ramps up pressure in the face of legislative attacks on education workers.Ontario Minister of Education Stephen Lecce introduced legislation Monday to impose a contract on education workers and avert a strike that was set to start Friday.."Kids have been through so much," Lecce said on Twitter.."That is why we will not waver from our conviction every student deserves to be in class.".The Ford government may invoke the notwithstanding clause in order to impose a new contract on CUPE. This will be the third time the government used the measure. The government said it intends to use the notwithstanding clause to keep the eventual law in force despite any constitutional challenges.."Education workers and the communities that rely on the delivery of their services will not take the Ford Conservatives’ bully tactics," said the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario..Education workers could face fines of up to $4,000 per day should they strike, the legislation states.."This is the first time in the history of Canada a government has done so to pre-emptively end a labour action," CUPE Ontario stated.."There’s a growing chorus of Ontarians, unions, and community organizations who are expressing their outrage about both the paltry elements of the government’s offer as well as their bullying tactics to ram it through.".CUPE Ontario stated the 55,000 members of CUPE’s Ontario School Boards Council of Unions (OSBCU) — custodians, maintenance and library workers, secretaries, early childhood educators, educational assistants, IT professionals — who are working in publicly-funded schools across Ontario are the backbone of Ontario’s public education system..Late Wednesday, the province rejected a proposal from the union that included a reduced wage hike of roughly 6%, below CUPE's demand of 11.7%.."They (education workers) are also the lowest-paid education workers, earning on average only $39,000 a year which has left many on the brink of poverty," CUPE Ontario said..Earlier on Thursday, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association called on Ontario to scrap Bill 28, saying "no government should use the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause to strip workers of the right to strike or take away other fundamental rights.".“Bill 28 is a catastrophe for rights and freedoms,” the CCLA’s executive director and general counsel, Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, told reporters at Queen’s Park on Thursday morning..Legislation to impose the contract is set to pass Friday.."I think the government has demonstrated we will do whatever it takes to keep these kids in class with a normal stable environment without any disruption," Leece said.."I believe they deserve it after two extraordinary years of a pandemic and recent strikes that preceded it. And so we're here because CUPE at the end of the day has brought forth unreasonable demands, they refuse to withdraw their strike. And we have literally no choice other than to move forward with legislation.".Meanwhile, Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) education workers will be walking off the job on Friday to show solidarity with CUPE. .“We have heard you,” said OPSEU President JP Hornick and First Vice President Treasurer Laurie Nancekivell. .“We will support every OPSEU education worker who does not attend work this Friday.” .There are 8,000 education workers in the union. The letter said if they all walk out together, there is safety in numbers.
