“ ETFO MEMBERS, STAND- ING SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH OTHER UNION MEMBERS, WITH FAMILIES AND WITH THE COMMUNITY, PUT SO MUCH PRESSURE ON PREMIER FORD THAT HE AND HIS GOVERN- MENT COULDN’T IGNORE US. TOGETHER, WE FORCED PREMIER FORD’S HAND, LEADING TO THE HISTORIC REPEAL OF BILL 28.”


tified about the political protest vote on the morning of Monday, November 7. Abacus Data releases polling information


that shows the public is on CUPE’s side and blames the government for mishandling ne- gotiations. According to their polling, 62% of respondents blamed the government for any disruptions to learning – the rate rises to 72% among parents with young children. Polling also demonstrated that 48% were in support of other unions walking off the job in protest of Bill 28. During the evening of November 6, the


press learns and reports about the OFL’s province-wide walkout planned for No- vember 14.


MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7:


CUPE National is scheduled to hold a press conference at 10 a.m. The national president of CUPE will be joined by pro- vincial and national labour leaders, includ- ing ETFO President Karen Brown, to talk about the growing fight against the Ford government’s Bill 28. However, the Ford government pre-empts this with a press conference at 9 a.m. At this press confer- ence, Premier Ford, joined by Minister Lecce, says his government will rescind Bill 28 if CUPE agrees to return to work and to the bargaining table.


VICTORY:


CUPE National delays its press conference by two hours while it waits for written con- firmation from the Ford government that it will repeal Bill 28 in its entirety. At a noon press conference, more than 30


union leaders from both public and private sectors take the stage. ETFO President Karen Brown is onstage and speaks on behalf of the Federation’s 83,000 members: “We stand together, united in our soli-


darity and fuelled by the collective power of our members – the workers of Ontar- io. Let there be no doubt that we will not stand by and watch the government strip away our constitutionally protected rights because they want to avoid the inconve- nience of negotiations. The draconian legislation the Ford govern-


ment passed to impose collective agreements on CUPE, and remove their Charter rights to free and fair collective bargaining and to strike, was an unprecedented attack on collec- tive bargaining rights, the likes of which have not been seen in Canadian history. Rest assured, we will hold Premier Ford


to his word in rescinding Bill 28. We stand in steadfast solidarity with CUPE.”


12 ETFO VOICE | WINTER 2022


The government announces Bill 28 will


be repealed on November 14, when they re- turn to Legislature.


WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9:


The Ford government withdraws its applica- tion at the OLRB to have CUPE’s November 4 job action declared illegal.


MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14:


Bill 35, the Keeping Students in Class Repeal Act, passes in the Legislature. It not only re- peals Bill 28, but states that it is “deemed for all purposes never to have been in force.” It is dated retroactively to November 3, the day Bill 28 was passed. In doing this, it is as if Bill 28 never existed. Education Minister Stephen Lecce, who


tabled Bill 28 on October 31, is absent for the vote to repeal the bill. Following its repeal, ETFO President


Karen Brown observes that Bill 28 “was an unprecedented attack on collective bargain- ing rights, the likes of which had not been seen in Ontario’s history. Today, we celebrate the repeal of this oppressive bill, which was accomplished through the courage of CUPE education workers and the collective power of workers and families across Ontario.”


LEADING THE WAY:


ETFO was a leading union in the broad la- bour support for a general strike in Ontario to protest Bill 28. That support proved key to the Ford government’s decision to back down and repeal the bill. ETFO members, standing shoulder to


shoulder with other union members, with families and with the community, put so much pressure on Premier Ford that he and his government couldn’t ignore us. Together, we forced Premier Ford’s hand, leading to the historic repeal of Bill 28. When we take action together, we win. By standing up and showing that the bul-


lying of union members will not be tolerat- ed, ETFO continues central bargaining with a sense of power that cannot be ignored by the Ford government. ETFO is prepared to sit down at the bar-


gaining table to ‘get it done,’ but not at the expense of educators and students in this province. ETFO members expect to be part of a bargaining process that values students, respects educators and provides much need- ed funding for Ontario’s public schools. We are prepared to fight for our schools


and our future. n


Heather Aggus and Carla Pereira are members of ETFO executive staff.


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