Trade unions say making strikes illegal in Ontario would undermine bargaining rights and labor laws

Hearings to determine the legality of a strike by 55,000 Ontario education workers continue Sunday morning after the provincial Labor Relations Commission heard heated debates from both sides for more than 16 hours on Saturday. .

A lawyer for the Civil Service Union of Canada told the board that responding to the government’s request to declare the strike illegal would send the message that labor laws and the right to collective bargaining no longer exist.

The Progressive Conservative government says it intends to use the clause to prevent constitutional challenges, including a clause in the Education Workers Act that bans strikes and imposes four-year contracts on union members. Stated.

Thousands of workers, including educational assistants, custodians and librarians, quit their jobs on Friday in protest, CUPE showed the strike could last indefinitely.

CUPE attorney Stephen Barrett, citing case law, argued that Ontario used the provision to address labor issues in an unprecedented and inappropriate manner.

Government attorney Ferina Murji countered that unless the Labor Commission declared the strike illegal, it risked undermining the state’s own labor laws.

Board Chairman Brian O’Byrne said he hopes Sunday will be the last day of hearings.