Negotiations resume between the Ontario government and the union representing 55,000 education workers, who returned to work Tuesday morning after their Friday walkout – and the premier says his government is bringing an offer to the table “improved”.
Doug Ford promised Monday to repeal the special law that imposed agreements on the 55,000 education workers who are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) – and prohibited them from striking. Following this promise, the union agreed to end its indefinite general strike and resume negotiations.
Mr. Ford said Tuesday morning that he could not go into the details of the new offer, but his government would have notably improved the conditions for lower-income workers.
However, the Premier warns that any agreement with these 55,000 education workers will have an impact on the four main teachers’ collective agreements that are currently being renegotiated in Ontario. Mr. Ford therefore points out that the increases granted to CUPE could then cost “tens of billions of dollars” to raise the salaries of teachers.
Ford says his government initially offered CUPE members a higher amount than what was in its original draft contract, and he was “shocked” to see CUPE turn down the offer.
The government initially proposed increases at the table of 2% per year for workers earning less than $40,000 and 1.25% for everyone else. The four-year contract imposed by the special law, which will soon be repealed, granted annual increases of 2.5% to workers earning less than $43,000 and 1.5% for everyone else.
CUPE initially demanded annual wage increases of 11.7%; he maintains that he filed a counter-offer which reduced this initial request by half.
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