November 2, 2022
As many of you are aware, the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) has been engaged in a months’ long negotiation with the Ford Government for a living wage and decent work. OSBCU frontline education workers have been working without a contract since August 31.
On Monday, October 31, the Ford Government tabled legislation to pre-emptively stop a strike and impose a new contract on the 55,000 OSBCU workers across Ontario. The Ford Government has also invoked the Notwithstanding Clause to protect the legislation against any legal challenges. Friends, this is an unprecedented attack on free collective bargaining and our collective democratic rights.
To recap, OSBCU has demanded the following:
- Improve the quality of education
- Increase help from Educational Assistants, Early Childhood Educators, Youth Workers and more
- Ensure enough clerical workers to run schools safely
- Keep all school libraries open
- Guarantee healthier cleaning standards and tackle maintenance backlogs
- Keep wages above the poverty line
OSBCU has announced its members will defy legislation, withdraw their labour, and walkout of their workplaces on Friday, November 4, 2022.
As members of CUPE, and as workers in the broader labour movement, it is incumbent upon us to defend our right to bargaining freely. As education workers in the post-secondary sector, we stand in solidarity with our comrades who work in the Ontario’s public school boards. CUPE 3902 encourages all members to support education workers in their fight for decent work and to defend our collective right to free and fair collective bargaining.
You can find a picket line to attend, petitions to sign and other ways to support education workers below:
Ontario Federation of Labor: Emergency Rally – Tuesday, 5 PM
Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU): Pickets – Friday
CUPE Ontario
Parent Action Network
Emergency General Membership Meeting
Register now to attend an emergency General Membership Meeting (GMM) on Monday, November 7, 2022 from 3 to 4pm! The purpose of this GMM is to consider providing financial support to support OSBCU workers in their political fight and CUPE 3261 service workers at the University of Toronto, should they take strike action. Here is the agenda package.
To attend, you need to register on the Member Portal. For support, consult this guide. You will be sent a Zoom link the morning of the meeting.
To be able to register for the meeting, you need to have signed your Union card! This is what makes you a political member of the Union. Just follow the steps here.