Last ditch efforts to avoid a strike by 55,000 education support workers have fallen apart, paving the way for workers to walk off the job on Friday.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce spoke to reporters at a hastily called news conference on Thursday afternoon to announce that mediated talks on Thursday afternoon broke down and the government is going ahead with invoking the Notwithstanding Clause of the Constitution to impose a contract on the member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, overriding their Charter right to collective bargaining.
Lecce said, if the workers follow through on their threat to walk off the job, they will be engaged in an illegal strike.
“It’s disappointing that we have to get here. All along we’ve hoped to reach an agreement that’s right for students, that’s right for parents, right for workers, and for taxpayers in this province,” Lecce claimed. “But CUPE wouldn’t budget. They refused to take a strike off the table.”
According to the government, workers who walk off the job face fines of $4,000 per day, while the union could be fined $500,000 per day. When asked if it was realistic to believe that the government would enforce the collection of those fines, Lecce would only say the government is going to “use every tool available to us to keep schools open” and get staff to show up for work.
While Lecce did his best to lay the blame for the work stoppage solely at the feet of CUPE, the NDP’s Education Critic isn’t having it.
Chandra Pasma told reporters after Lecce’s news conference that the Minister is trying to “weasel” out of his responsibility.
“The parents know, education workers know this is on the minister and this is on the Premier,” she said. “The government had so many other options. They have spent months drafting the legislation instead of negotiating a fair deal at the table.”
While some schools in the province will remain open Friday, most will close or switch to at-home learning. It’s not known how long the strike will last. However, CUPE’s Laura Walton said Wednesday that the workers would be on strike they get a fair contract.
