Ontario withdraws use of notwithstanding clause to suspend workers’ rights
On November 21, Ontario Minister for Education Stephen Lecce announced that a tentative agreement had been reached with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), following weeks of tensions between the Ontario government and frontline education workers across the province. Education workers represented by CUPE had been in talks with the provincial government since the end of August, when their previous contract expired. Union bargainers pushed the province for a number of issues, including employee benefits, job security provisions, and wage increases to combat rising costs of living due to inflation.
Talks broke down over the summer as the Ontario government refused to consider CUPE’s request for 11.7% wage increases per year, despite inflation rates reaching a recent record high of 6.9%. Instead, the province offered a 2% raise for workers earning less than $40,000 and a 1.25% raise for all other CUPE-represented education workers. In response, CUPE workers voted to strike on October 3, with 96.5% of union employees voting in favour of the action. A strike notice was issued by the union on October 30 informing the province CUPE workers would strike in five days if no deal was reached, prompting the Ontario government to introduce Bill 28, the Keeping Students in Class Act, in the Ontario legislature the next day.
The Bill, which the province admitted to being unconstitutional under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, unilaterally imposed a contract on CUPE education workers and prohibited education workers to strike under threat of fines of up to $4,000 per individual employee per day and $500,000 per day for the union. The Bill invoked the notwithstanding clause, a power in the Charter allowing provincial and federal legislatures to override rights enshrined in the Charter for a temporary period of five years. The use of the clause without a court challenge was unprecedented and sparked significant controversy, including from Prime Minister Justin Trudueau who slammed the bill as an “overuse of the notwithstanding clause to suspend people’s rights and freedoms.”
Despite the law gaining royal assent, CUPE employees continued plans to strike on November 4, with the union promising to pay any fines levied against members as individuals. Following negotiations over the weekend, the province agreed to repeal Bill 28 the following Monday in exchange for a temporary end to CUPE’s strike action. More tense negotiations followed, leading to another notice to strike issued by CUPE workers to begin on November 21. However, a second strike was averted by a tentative agreement following last-minute weekend negotiations. CUPE will now vote online to ratify the tentative agreement between November 24 and December 5.
Despite the repeal of Bill 28, labour and civil rights groups have continued to criticise the Ontario government’s attempt to use the bill, calling it “dangerous,” “draconian” and a “nuclear approach to collective bargaining.” At the same time frontline education workers were fighting for bargaining rights in public schools, CUPE 3261 representing service workers at UofT’s three campuses was also engaged in collective bargaining with UofT to fight contracting out service jobs at the University, issuing a notice to strike on November 21. The strike was averted on November 18 following a tentative agreement.
