'Notwithstanding' Doug Ford

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Ontario education workers will go back to work tomorrow because Premier Doug Ford has called off Bill 28 and the ‘notwithstanding clause’ which led to the strike that started 4 November.

Background to the school strike

Ontario education workers voted for the Progressive Conservative Party five months ago, during the province’s election. It was a clear high jump. Doug Ford’s party did not touch the bar at all. Voters gave him a solid majority to return to Queen’s Park.

Therefore, it is only natural for Premier Ford to think he had support for union-busting in the form of Bill 28. What is on the table? Education workers, people who are not in front of the class like teachers, but are essential for the running of schools.

It is normal for unions and employers to go back and forth during the bargaining process. With Bill 28, Doug Ford and his government gave CUPE, the union representing education workers an offer which looked like an ultimatum. Take it or leave it. No strike option if CUPE rejects it.

Telling organized workers they cannot go on strike is an infringement of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which includes the right of association and protesting government decisions like Bill 28. Doug Ford was prepared for that argument so he used the ‘notwithstanding clause’ of the Charter, which means he can do what he likes.

Importance of your vote

Looking at the banners protesting education workers waved during the two-day strike, not one admitted to having voted for the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.

Many people, including education workers voted for Doug Ford in 2018 and June 2022. That is where his confidence to annihilate collective bargaining came from. It is also a reminder that you get what you voted for.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

 

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