CUPE says province has 'refused to invest in the services that students need,' gives 5-day notice
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has filed another strike notice, leaving education workers poised to walk off the job again in Ontario, according to both the province's minister of education and the union.
From Labor Notes comes an article from the ex-president of the Chicago Teachers Union. It’s not the full story of that amazing union, but it is a part. They – the union leaders – were not only the leaders of their union, but the leaders of the communities around their schools, of the anti-racist struggle, of getting food for the students, of ensuring safe transit, and so much more. And the article is pretty good too.
Global warming, extreme severity of drought in Europe, heatwaves, snowball effect (or cascading reactions) among all these crisis factors… Risk of sudden changes in ocean circulation with incalculable consequences… This article addresses three points: the explanation of this incontestable observation, the possible evolution, and the policies to be implemented.
When the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and its labour allies seemed to be moving toward a general strike, Premier Doug Ford jumped to beat the news.
"The wealthy 'jet set' is responsible for most of the flights and the highest carbon emissions," said one participant, "and nothing is being done to stop them."
More than 500 environmental and social justice campaigners on Saturday occupied the runway and blocked private jets from taking off from a major airport in the Netherlands to call attention to the highly-polluting travel practices of the uber-rich in the face of runaway climate catastrophe.
"The government managed to unite the entire labour movement in an effort to repeal Bill 28 and protect the Charter rights of workers across Canada.”
A union representing tens of thousands of education workers in Ontario called off planned strike actions on Monday in exchange for the Doug Ford government promising to rescind legislation that imposed a contract and made going on strike illegal.
Over the past several decades, governments in Canada have intervened in labour disputes on behalf of employers with increasing frequency. In recent years postal workers, teaching assistants, college instructors, pilots, healthcare workers, and others, have had their collective bargaining rights trampled by back-to-work legislation passed at both the provincial and federal levels.
For this strike to be successful, unions across Ontario and Canada will need to offer more than strong words.
To borrow a phrase from Mark Hancock, the national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Doug Ford government in Ontario has gone “full nuclear” and suspended the Charter-protected rights of the provinces’ lowest paid education workers to collectively bargain and strike.
