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From: Erika Shaker, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, November 7, 2022 6:02 PM
To: Dennis Raphael <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [CCPA] A historic victory
Labour stared down an attempt to wipe out workers' rights today—and the government blinked.
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CANADIAN CENTRE FOR
POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Research • Analysis • Solutions
Dear Dennis,
Today was an amazing day for Canadian workers, and for everyone who lives in this country.
Late last week, an Ontario bill called Bill 28 received Royal Assent. The purpose of the bill was to crush the bargaining rights of 55,000 education workers and impose a low-wage contract on them. In the legislation, the Doug Ford government used the notwithstanding clause of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to guarantee that the bill, which ran roughshod over Charter rights, could not be challenged in the courts.
In the 40 years since the Charter was enacted, the notwithstanding clause had never been used to settle a labour dispute. Bill 28 ordered members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) to work under a contract they had never agreed to.
What happened next made history.
Rather than going in to work, CUPE members staged a political protest Friday. Support flooded in from everywhere—from parents, from opposition politicians, and from the rest of the labour movement, right across Canada. Private sector unions linked arms with public sector unions. The B.C. Teachers’ Federation, meeting Saturday, pledged $1 million in support. Others followed suit. Polling by Abacus Data<https://policyalternatives.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ab80acdbcc30e47a51c061b&id=2bcde9e4bc&e=7c0f0964fe> showed Ontarians blamed the government for the Friday school closures, by a wide margin.
Then, this morning, the Ford government backed down. It agreed—in writing—to rescind the bill in its entirety.
Laura Walton, president of the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) and chair of the education workers’ bargaining team, called on Canadians to remember that elections are one day but governments must be held accountable every day.
“People everywhere are starting to realize that they can have a voice, and they can use that voice collectively to push back to ensure that we live in a world that respects workers, that respects people, that respects kids, and we don’t have to put up with what we’ve been seeing for decades.”
Today was a victory for working people and a victory for the democratic rights of all Canadians. Let’s hope it is just the beginning.
In solidarity,
Erika Shaker, director, National Office, and Randy Robinson, director, Ontario Office.
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