CUPE has several more bargaining schedules with Ontario government, says initial strike discussions not unusual
A union representing Ontario education workers is planning to talk about organizing strike votes at a meeting later this month, a move the education minister calls “needless escalation.”
Laura Walton, the president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions, said the purpose of the meeting is to hear from workers about what next steps they would like to take. Education Minister Stephen Lecce said CUPE should put its energy into negotiating at the bargaining table instead of planning for a strike in the early stages of bargaining.
The wage restraint legislation known as Bill 124 played a large role in tense bargaining during the last round, but the government had also angered teachers by seeking increases to class sizes and mandating four online courses for high school graduation.