CUPE Ends Ontario Education Official Protests

Article content

CUPE Ontario school staff who quit their jobs on Friday said they will end their work actions from Tuesday in response to a controversial offer from the Doug Ford government to withdraw its use of the clause. announced.

Article content

Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario Board of Education Union Council (OSBCU), said her union would collapse the protest field and return to negotiations to achieve a collective bargaining agreement.

Article content

“We have regained the negotiating rights,” Walton said Monday. “We will go to work tomorrow morning.”

CUPE Ontario made the announcement at the media conference alongside other labor leaders representing millions of private and public sector workers.

Article content

Education Minister Stephen Lecce has confirmed that CUPE has withdrawn its strike and agreed to return to negotiations.

“In return, we will fully cancel Bill 28 at the earliest opportunity so that our children can return to the classroom after two difficult years,” Lecce said in a statement. , as we have asked, the children must return to their place in the classroom.”

Article content

At a news conference Monday, Ford said his government would use the Class Retention Act, He said he had no choice but to introduce Bill 28. Pandemic-related education disruption.

“I know it’s controversial,” he said. “I have always respected the right of workers to bargain fairly and freely, but CUPE refused to take it off the agenda and go on strike, even though it was illegal.”

He said the government was ready to withdraw the entire bill that imposed contracts in addition to the ban on strikes.

The Ford administration is also ready to negotiate contracts that deal with minimum wage workers, he added.