Education support workers with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) have voted to ratify their next collective agreement with the Council of the Trustees’ Associations (CTA) and the provincial government.
CUPE officials say a total of 41,559 out of 55,000 frontline CUPE education workers cast ballots, and 30,330 –73% – voted “yes” to accept the tentative agreement that was reached by their central bargaining committee on November 20.
The online ratification vote began Thursday, November 24, and ended Sunday, December 4, with 76% of frontline education workers participating.
“My coworkers and I stood up to the Ford government to get a forced contract off our backs as part of the repeal of the anti-worker Bill 28,” said Laura Walton, educational assistant and president of CUPE’s Ontario School Boards Council of Unions (OSBCU), in a press release.
“This collective agreement is our first in 10 years to be freely bargained instead of forced on us with legislative interference. It’s the product of democracy in action – workers having the freedom to negotiate and to withdraw our labour if necessary.”
Walton said for the last week and a half, 55,000 frontline education workers considered whether the tentative agreement their bargaining committee negotiated is acceptable.
“The majority said ‘yes,’ because we stood up for fairness and freedom, refusing to be bullied anymore, we ended up with an agreement that’s free of concessions and we more than doubled the wage increase the Ford government tried to impose on us,” Walton said.
“To the parents who joined us in demanding improved services for Ontario’s students: Together we have shined a searing light on this government’s appalling track record of underfunding public education,” Walton concluded. “My coworkers and I will never stop advocating for your children. Change isn’t only won at the bargaining table and we are going to keep mobilizing with you for better funding.”
When the province and CUPE reached a tentative deal last month, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said it was not a win for governments or education unions, it was a win for Ontario families.
“Who finally have peace of mind knowing their children will remain in the classroom,” Lecce stated.
“After two and a half years of unprecedented disruptions, nothing matters more than stability in our schools. We are pleased to have reached a deal today that will make sure kids are in class catching up on their learning.”
At the time, Minister Lecce added this was the first tentative central agreement reached through the 2022 round of central collective bargaining in the education sector.
