The stage has been set for a potentially massive strike in Ontario. An estimated 55,000 Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) education workers are going up against the Ford government. The results of the strike vote were announced on Oct. 2: 96.5 per cent in support of strike action, with an 83 per cent turnout.

This overwhelming strike mandate was assisted by the fact that the Conservatives have shown their total unwillingness to bargain with us. CUPE education workers are some of the lowest paid workers in the public sector, earning an average of $39,000 per year. Despite this, Ford wants to impose an effective six per cent pay cut each year, when inflation is taken into account. Over a four-year contract, this is almost a quarter of our paycheck.

We are fighting to keep up with inflation, as we cannot afford to slide backwards any further. Our demands are just, and we now have the mandate to organize the strongest education strike in a generation if the government refuses to concede to our demands. But there have recently been several threats of back-to-work legislation by the Ford government. We say: do not delay—now is the time to initiate a mass campaign across the labour movement to defend our right to strike. Lets give Ford a reason to think twice before the use of back-to-work legislation.

Threats of back-to-work legislation

Conservative Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce have made multiple ill-concealed threats of imposing back-to-work legislation to end our right to strike. As a response to the tremendous 96.5 per cent strike vote, Ford made the following statement: “We don’t want any disruptions in the school…So I’m asking the unions, please don’t go on strike, don’t force my hand.” This is a clear threat of back-to-work legislation.

Lecce also took to Twitter to state, “We will stand up to ensure all kids learn in-class without disruption, right to June.” However, there is no such thing as an un-disruptive strike, or else why bother striking at all? The point of a strike is to show how important workers are to the daily functioning of society by withholding our labour and using this power to negotiate a fair contract. Guaranteeing that schools will not be disrupted is equivalent to guaranteeing that a strike will not take place

The government is threatening back-to-work legislation, which would mean a frontal attack on unions and our democratic right to strike. The right to strike is a legal right that workers have fought for to defend their living standards. To immediately threaten legislation exposes the fact that the government does not respect even basic legal rights when it comes to the interests of working class people. This cannot be tolerated.

Lecce further said in a radio interview that “I think it is unfair to…strike at a time when the focus should be on kids learning”, adding that “after two years of a pandemic, I find it disappointing that [unions] would even contemplate a strike”. We think that after two years of workers sacrificing themselves during the pandemic, it is disappointing that the government would even contemplate imposing a six per cent wage cut against essential frontline education workers.

These statements by Ford and Lecce expressing concern for students, parents, and COVID almost make one forget that it was the very same Ford regime that presided over the severe mishandling of the pandemic, and which is now planning to cripple education by cutting $12.3 billion over the next decade. Wasn’t it about the kids, Mr. Lecce?

This false concern is a smokescreen to split the support of parents and demonize the strike. But we cannot let the government get away with this. A recent online poll in a parents and teachers solidarity group showed that 47 per cent of education workers are parents or guardians, and 56 per cent are parents of at least one K-12 child. Inflation is hurting working class families across the country and people see the fight of education workers against inflation as their own fight. We will not be swayed by Lecce’s lies. Victory for education workers is a victory for all workers; similarly, an injury to one is an injury to all. This means that the fight against back-to-work legislation can’t be left to us alone. We will need the widest support from the labour movement and parents if we are to win.

Don’t wait until legislation, organize now!

Delegates at a recent CUPE National Executive Board meeting reported back that a motion was passed to support members who defy back-to-work legislation in the event of a strike. The Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) has also taken a bold step in declaring that if there is a verifiable threat of legislation, the OSBCU commits to host mass membership meetings regionally to bring workers together. This was shared with us by OSBCU president Laura Walton. She added that “workers will decide next steps.” 

We welcome these necessary steps such as mass meetings; they will be crucial to the success of the strike. It is equally crucial that workers get the final vote on whether or not the union defies back-to-work legislation. But there have already been “verifiable threats” of legislation. There is no room to delay—we need to mobilize now. The use of back-to-work legislation in every major strike over the past few years should be more than enough evidence of the need to act.

The OSBCU and CUPE national plans are a good start, but they need more teeth. It is not enough to say that we are against back-to-work legislation; this opposition needs to be structured and organized across the labour movement. Back-to-work legislation needs to be on the agenda of every local’s members’ meeting. There needs to be a plan in every local to be prepared to support workers who defy. Mass assemblies must be organized at each stage of the strike to give workers a vote on how to proceed. Strike committees must be enlarged to incorporate the most energetic and militant workers into the forefront of the struggle. All these steps and more are necessary, but still insufficient. Education workers will have to lead this campaign, but we cannot be left to fight alone: we need the entire labour movement to stand alongside us to defend our right to strike.

What can the labour movement do to support us?

The labour movement needs to stand firmly against back-to-work legislation, not only in words but action. We cannot rely on the courts and judges to uphold our rights. We can only rely on our own strength. For example, in 2016, an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled the use of back-to-work legislation against the postal workers in 2011 as unconstitutional and it was struck down retroactively. But that didn’t change the fact that the 2011 strike had been broken. Nor did it change the fact that back-to-work legislation was used again in Ontario in 2018. We need to take this matter into our own hands, and give Ford something to really worry about.

Weakness invites aggression. The best way to fight undemocratic laws is to organize powerful strikes with strong picket lines. But this requires the human and material resources of the entire labour movement: we need to mobilize en masse for any union that is legislated back to work. This will require joint meetings with other unions, especially the teachers unions. We will also need to draw in the support of the general public and especially parents through the use of solidarity rallies and protests. 

We shouldn’t forget how in 2019, more than 30,000 people mobilized at Queens Park to support the teachers unions. Another good example of solidarity is a motion that was passed at the Toronto and York Region Labour Council (TYRLC) in 2018. The motion called for a campaign of “solidarity walkouts and mass political protests” which would “be triggered in the event that any TYRLC affiliated local has its rights violated.” If we are prepared in this way, the government will have to think twice before using undemocratic legislation that would spark a tremendous response from organized labour.

Someone somewhere has to defy

The Ford government is attempting to impoverish workers amidst an inflation crisis. To add insult to injury, it now threatens to eliminate our very right to strike. This is a fight beyond the education sector and the labour movement needs to rise up to it. Someone somewhere has to defy. Otherwise our rights have no meaning. The importance of this strike cannot be overstated. We have the opportunity to not only lead the way on the question of inflation, but also to set a precedent for not tolerating the use of back-to-work legislation. 

Defiance is not an easy road to travel. But it is not a question of “is it possible?”, but rather “who will be the first to do it?”. A heroic example of defiance was seen during the University of British Columbia strike 20 years ago. UBC teaching assistants with CUPE Local 2278 defied back-to-work legislation against all odds. But after the example was set by TAs, the ferry workers followed suit, followed by the nurses and finally the teachers. One small local defying led to a snowball effect which almost brought down the entire B.C. Liberal government of Gordon Campbell. Notably, none of the fines and injunctions against those who defied were enforced. This proved that together we are far stronger—they can’t arrest all of us!  But such a movement can’t be improvised in the heat of the moment. It must be prepared for in advance of the use of legislation. If a strike takes place, the entire labour movement needs to ensure that it is effective. We cannot afford to delay. This is an open plea to all labour organizers: now is the time for an almighty campaign to defend our right to strike!