When it comes to budget cuts from Doug Ford’s elitist Conservative government, education has always been at the top of their list. 

Last August, the contracts of 55,000 education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) expired. This body of workers, consisting of administration staff, early childhood educators, librarians, and custodians make an average of $39,000 per year. For a decade, CUPE workers have been victims of frozen wages, resulting in extremely disproportionate pay compared to other public sector occupations. With the decline in working conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside the subsequent spike in inflation, it is extremely reasonable to give these essential workers a pay increase in their new contracts. 

In fact, with the re-election of a Conservative majority into Ontario’s Parliament last summer, one of the top concerns for voters was the rising cost of living. Fueled largely by corporate greed, every single working-class individual in Ontario has felt the impact of inflation. As time progresses and inflation worsens while wages stay frozen, those wages pay for less and less than they once did, resulting in what is essentially an annual pay cut. 

This increasingly dire condition of the economy has led to 96.5% of CUPE members voting in favor of collective action. With an 83% turnout, CUPE members have shown almost unanimously how fed up they are with Ford’s cost-cutting policies. In conjunction with this consensus, CUPE demanded from the government an 11.7% salary increase over four years for all members, insisting that an increase in wages across the board will build solidarity within the union. 

Despite running a $2.1 billion surplus from the previous fiscal year, Doug Ford and his Minister of Education Steven Leece decided to forgo good faith bargaining and instead flexed their authoritarian muscles. What resulted was the Tories passing Bill 28, called the Keeping Students in Class Act, a hilariously ironic name after one remembers how the Conservatives utterly failed to handle school attendance and safety during the peaks of COVID-19. This bill, aptly coined the “nuclear option,” declared strike action illegal while simultaneously imposing a four-year contract onto CUPE workers. This contract consists of a 2.5% annual increase for the lowest-paid workers and a 1.5% increase for those making over $43,000 per year. On top of this, the bill states that any strike action done by CUPE will result in a $500,000 fine for the union and a $4000 fine for every individual member, per day. Remember, these workers make $39,000 per year before taxes! 

Bill 28 grossly violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and is an insult to the already exploited education workers, as well as a threat against any union that dares try to improve the pay and working conditions of its members. Yet, it was passed into law due to the notwithstanding clause, a loophole baked into Section 33 of the Charter which allows provincial legislatures to override certain portions of the Charter for five years. 

Nevertheless, Doug Ford’s pathetic attempt at curtailing strike action imploded as workers across Ontario were galvanized to stand with CUPE in solidarity. CUPE members, despite the threats, walked off the job for a two-day strike to demonstrate resentment against Ford’s attacks on fundamental labour rights. Moreover, the Ontario Federation of Labour, justifiably threatened by the careless use of Bill 28, gave Doug Ford a wake-up call and unanimously voted to launch an indefinite general strike.

Ford, realizing that he was barreling toward the largest labour demonstrations since the 1990s, quickly reversed course by repealing Bill 28, removing the fine, and conceding to bargain a contract. 

The success of this strike cannot be overstated. Ontarians and unions joined in solidarity to successfully oppose Doug Ford’s unacceptable threat against fundamental labour rights. Through demonstration, workers preserved the means to combat the tyrannic nature of the workplace within an increasingly unequal society. The existential threat of Bill 28 showed workers that, when faced with significant authoritarian strong-arming over their labour rights, stiffening their position and uniting collectively along the picket line is the only way to combat oppression.