Notwithstanding clause puts 'dark cloud' over collective bargaining, union leaders warn

Leaders of the province's education and teachers' unions are expressing serious concern over the law that imposed a contract on 55,000 CUPE education workers and banned them from striking — and they're worried it could have an impact on their own contract negotiations.

Bill 28 uses the notwithstanding clause to protect against constitutional challenges — a legal mechanism that has been used only twice in Ontario's history, both times by the governments of Premier Doug Ford. Education Minister Steven Lecce said this week the government had "no choice" but to invoke the clause, so the province's two million children could stay in their classes after more than two years of disruptions in their schooling due to the pandemic.

But that argument doesn't impress union leaders like Karen Littlewood. 

"It puts quite a dark cloud over our own negotiating," said Littlewood, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF), another union currently in talks with the Ford government.

"We have three days [of bargaining] for our education workers scheduled for next week and it makes us wonder what the tone is going to be like at the table."

The Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) represents 55,000 CUPE education workers such as educational assistants, early childhood educators, custodians and library technicians in the public, Catholic, English, and French school systems across the province.

Despite the new law and the threat of $4,000 in fines per day for each of the 55,000 union members (adding up to $220 million), workers walked off the job Friday. The vast majority of school boards across the province responded by shutting down in-person learning across the province.

Ontario has four other education unions representing teachers in elementary, secondary, Catholic and French-language schools, as well as other education workers across the province.

Each is currently in negotiations with the government following the expiry of contracts on Aug. 31 of this year.

"This is hanging over our heads," said Barb Dobrowolski, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA).

"If they can use it against education workers, they can use it against anyone. So the threat is there, and that creates a real imbalance at the bargaining table."

Littlewood says the OSSTF has been in contract negotiations since mid-July, a process she describes as being "cordial" so far.

"We've been able to sign off on a few things. It's been slow, but there's nothing unusual about that," says Littlewood. "We are not in a position to be calling for a strike vote right now because we are progressing." 

"That doesn't mean we won't end up there."