The Ontario government says CUPE leaders knowingly advise workers to engage in illegal employment acts.
Ontario's education minister said the province had "no tolerance for interference," as hearings to determine the legality of strikes by education workers continued this weekend.
A government attorney argued Saturday during a hearing that the Ontario Labor Relations Board risks undermining the province's labor laws if it fails to declare the strike by 55,000 members of the Canadian Public Workers Union (CUPE) illegal.
"Ensuring that unlawful strikes are not allowed to proceed is a very important goal of labor relations, and if you do not use your discretion to do so, it will significantly undermine the very clear prohibition against strike activity that is a central feature of the Labor Act. Relationships," said Ferina Merji.
Thousands of education workers, including educational assistants, guards and librarians, quit their jobs on Friday to protest the government passed a law banning strikes and imposing four-year contracts. The Progressive Conservative Government included a though clause in its education workers law, saying it would use it to guard against constitutional challenges.
"We have zero tolerance for distractions. We made it very clear in the summer through a plan to catch up, kids need to stay in school," Education Secretary Stephen Lecce told CBC News on Saturday.
Lecce said the government had no choice but to continue with its laws to prevent strikes and keep students in classrooms after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted learning for the past few years. Laura Walton, president of the Ontario CUPE School Board Union Council, said the Ontario government was bargaining "in bad faith."
"The fact that they were working on this legislation before the strike notice was given should tell the people of Ontario all you need to know," Walton told CBC News on Saturday.
"They never intend to bargain in good faith. The fact of coming to the table and saying if you don't remove your right to strike then we won't bargain is really... bad definition of faith bargaining."
Province argues work stoppage is equivalent to strike
CUPE argues that the labor action is a political protest rather than a strike.
He argued in his board submission that the purpose of its members' actions was "to express opposition through political protest against the [provincial] decision to trample on employees' constitutionally protected rights to collective bargaining and the right to strike."
"Regardless of what label people give to the activity, Mr. Chairman, it is a work stoppage. And a work stoppage, under another name, is still a work stoppage and therefore a strike, stop it," Merji said in court. .
Merji said the government's actions at the negotiating table were irrelevant in the unlawful strike application, and instead constituted an area of complaints about unfair labor practices.
Merji said such strikes were illegal because the Labor Relations Act prohibits termination of employment while the contract was in effect, and argued that CUPE leadership consciously advised education workers to strike illegally.
He played a video of CUPE-Ontario President Fred Hahn saying unions would provide workers with the same benefits as he would in any strike.
Merji also shared a video of Laura Walton, president of the Union Board of School Boards of CUPE Ontario, comparing the strike to the planned in 2019. At that time, CUPE and the government reached a last-minute agreement the day before workers were set to go on a full-blown strike.
CUPE initially asked Lecce and Andrew Davis, the assistant deputy minister, to be summoned to testify before the council.
House Speaker Brian O'Byrne ruled that Lecce was acquitted of testifying because of parliamentary privilege, but said Davis could be summoned to testify.
But after hours of delay, a lawyer for CUPE said he would not call Davis to provide evidence, because the documents the union also wanted to present as evidence could not be available.
What CUPE workers are protesting about
CUPE workers left Friday in what they said was the start of an indefinite strike in protest against the government passing the controversial law. Other union members, including the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and Unifor, also joined the strike.
The British Columbia Teachers' Federation announced Saturday afternoon that it chose to send $1 million so CUPE members "do not have to back down."
The government's new law has set fines for violating strike prohibitions of up to $4,000 per employee per day – which could amount to $220 million for all 55,000 workers – and up to $500,000 per day for unions. CUPE has said it will fight the fine, but will also pay it if it has to.
The walkout has led the vast majority of school boards in the province to shut down in-person learning, with many saying they'll move to full online learning next week if the labor action continues.
The school closures have also impacted childcare arrangements for thousands of parents across Ontario, with many scrambling to find last-minute caretakers or take off work to help their kids learn remotely.
While students should be in class, she says they should only be in school with proper supports that CUPE education workers help provide.
"There's not enough money for them, there's not enough time for them, there's not enough of them in any of our schools. And we need to make that change because teachers can't work without our education workers with us."
The walkout has led the vast majority of school boards in the province to shut down in-person learning, with many saying they'll move to full online learning next week if the labor action continues.
The school closures have also impacted childcare arrangements for thousands of parents across Ontario, with many scrambling to find last-minute caretakers or take off work to help their kids learn remotely.
While students should be in class, she says they should only be in school with proper supports that CUPE education workers help provide.
"There's not enough money for them, there's not enough time for them, there's not enough of them in any of our schools. And we need to make that change because teachers can't work without our education workers with us."
Impact of strikes on parents, students
Traci Clarke, parent, volunteer and member of the Special Education Advisory Committee in Ottawa, agrees.
He has a 19-year-old son on the autism spectrum and said when schools closed he gave him the option of studying online, or going with his father, an education worker, to the nearest picket line.
"He's done with online learning. He doesn't want to do it again," Clarke said.
Heather Donovan, the parent of a 12-year-old diagnosed with dyslexia, said her son also had difficulty studying online.
While he understood why the workers were on strike, he said he wondered if everything had been done to prevent this from happening.
"Everyone is struggling and this is the last thing our kids need right now," Donovan said.
"I just feel that this is a drastic decision and there aren't enough other options that are given out there." This article was written by EDUKASI CAMPUS.