CUPE and the Ford government were in deadlock over wages for educational assistants and support workers for about three months before the issue came to a head. Last week, CUPE decided to strike, closing schools across the province. This left parents scrambling to find child care so they could go to work and earn a living at a time when every penny in a family’s budget counts.
In response to the strike action, the Ford government introduced back to work legislation and used the
notwithstanding clause to ensure it’s implementation. Ford claimed he wanted students back in school. In the end, that’s exactly what he got.
Was it all a bluff on the part of the Ford administration? Perhaps. Was it a controversial move? Without a doubt. Did it work? Absolutely.
Earlier today, Doug Ford went on television to announce his willingness to repeal both the back to work legislation as well as the notwithstanding clause attached to it. The end result is that schools in Ontario will be open as of tomorrow.
As it stands now, CUPE workers still have no contract, but have been put on notice as to what happens when you don’t negotiate in good faith. Refusing every offer and not budging on their nearly 12% increase for 4 years is not good faith negotiation. This point is made clear by the fact that CUPE reduced their demand by almost half once the threat of being legislated back to work became a very real threat.
In the end, CUPE does not have a contract but Doug Ford got students back in class.
Scoreboard:
CUPE 0
Ford 1
All said and done, this whole issue may not be over. CUPE claims the will bring back a strike action if negotiations don’t advance in a timely manner. They did not give a timeline. Ontario may well face the same problem in a week from now. We shall see.