Ontario education workers are asking: pay raise or strike?
Increasing tension between the provincial government and education workers over low wages on the brink of escalation.
In a statement released on October 3, 2022, President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Mark Hancock, and National Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick, reported that education workers in Ontario have sent a “powerful message” to the Ford administration regarding the value of public education and its employees.
In a vote organized by Ontario School Boards Council of Unions (OSBCU), 96.5 per cent of 45,433 education workers voted in favour of taking action against the Ontario government for undervaluing public education.
Ongoing friction between the provincial government and education workers over a lack of funding and adequate pay, has sparked several strikes in the last few years. Issues brought along by the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting inflation have made pay for front-line education workers, especially pertinent.
In August, the provincial government made a proposal to increase the salaries of education workers by 1.5 per cent, and by two per cent for those with salaries less than $40,000. However, the initiative was poorly received as CUPE reports that wages in the education sector have fallen by over 11 per cent in the past decade, considering inflation.
“Today, students have no service guarantees,” said Laura Walton, president of OSBCU, in a statement released by CUPE in late August. “Tomorrow, education workers will have nothing to prevent their wages from being devalued again and school boards will still have problems keeping and finding employees due to low pay.”
As a result, the CUPE has expressed verbal support for the education workers, stating that their 700,000 members nationwide will stand in support of the OSBCU until a fair deal for both workers and students is reached.
Kristine Hamilton, an educational assistant and OSBCU member says there are “not enough people to go around,” and employees are “exhausted.” Although many education workers want action, there is no guarantee a strike will happen.
Regardless, the continuing tension between the OSBCU and the provincial government will have multiple implications across the education sector. As the two parties seek to reach an agreement, parents, students, and teachers are waiting to see if there will be a pay raise or a strike.
Staff Writer (Volume 49 & 50) — Yusuf is in his fourth year completing a double major in English and Cinema Studies and a minor in History of Religions. He first joined The Medium in 2022 when he sought to get involved in the on-campus community. He has developed strong writing skills throughout the experience and enjoys learning about new topics he wouldn’t know about otherwise. You can connect with Yusuf on LinkedIn.
Hi my name is Terry, I am a member of the Ontario Education Workers Rank & File Committee – OEWRFC. The committee was established by rank & file education workers who are looking to take the struggle out of the hands of the union bureaucracy and into the hands of the rank & file workers.
I think your article would have been stronger by including the perspective of the OEWRFC to your audience. We express the growing opposition to the union bureaucracy by rank & file workers.