Newmarket developmental services worker Michelle Campbell is looking forward to being back in class tomorrow.
The CUPE Local 1734 member demonstrated with her colleagues at the Yonge Street and Mulock Drive plaza as the union representing education workers officially called off the strike. With the province promising to rescind its back-to-work legislation in its entirety, they will be back to the table negotiating.
“I’m shocked, to be honest,” she said. “I’m glad that we get to go back. I love my kids. I miss my kids, but I’m a little bit weary … I just hope [Premier Doug Ford is] being honest this time. I hope that we get a fair deal.”
Local schools will be back open and students will be in classrooms again tomorrow with CUPE announcing it is calling off its strike. Both York Region District School Board and York Catholic District School Board announced classrooms would be back open Nov. 8.
"The past several days have been stressful for many families and we thank you for your patience and understanding," York Catholic director of education Domenic Scuglia said in a news release. "We are happy to welcome our CUPE-represented employees back into our schools and we will continue to pray for all success and well-being of all our students and our staff."
This comes after Ford announced that the province would rescind its back-to-work legislation if CUPE called off the strike. The legislation introduced last week garnered criticism for using the notwithstanding clause to protect it against potential legal challenges under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“CUPE has agreed to withdraw their strike action and come back to the negotiating table,” Minister of Education Stephen Lecce said in a news release. “In return, at the earliest opportunity, we will revoke Bill 28 in its entirety and be at the table so that kids can return to the classroom after two difficult years. As we have always said and called for, kids need to be back in the classroom, where they belong.”
“Seeing that our charter rights were trampled over, I think Ford realized they went a step too far,” Campbell said. “It became bigger than just CUPE workers.”
Local CUPE demonstrations continued today near Newmarket-Aurora MPP Dawn Gallagher Murphy’s constituency office. In a Facebook video last Friday,Gallagher Murphy said she supported Bill 28 and said it will establish a “fair and fiscally responsible collective agreement.”
“This is a fair agreement. The legislation would, if passed, advance the commitment to have students remain in class without interruption so they can fully engage in their learning,” Gallagher Murphy said. “We will stand for families. I will stand for families.”
The two sides were far apart, with the government proposing a 2.5 per cent annual wage increase in this back-to-work legislation for workers paid below $43,000 over four years and 1.5 per cent otherwise, and CUPE seeking an 11.7 per cent increase annually over three years. The union has argued that a larger jump is needed with wage freezes and caps over the past decade keeping pay below the pace of inflation.
Protests continued in the afternoon, even after the strike got called off.
Campbell expressed appreciation for her colleagues, parents and other unions that supported them. She added that education workers are often at the bottom in the educational sector.
“We finally stood up for ourselves. We stood up for workers everywhere. We stood up for our children,” she said. “Thank you to all for holding the line and doing what we had to do to make sure we get a fair deal.”
