CUPE votes 79 per cent in favor of new deal

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) are pushing back against cuts made by Doug Ford’s Conservative government, voting 79 per cent in favor of their new deal. 

“We are pleased that CUPE members have ratified an agreement that restores the tens of thousands of services hours for Ontario students cut by the Ford government earlier this year,” said Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU).  

CUPE and OBSCU announced Nov. 4 that CUPE workers voted 79 per cent in favor of their new deal, which was struck last month. The deal was negotiated by CUPE and the OSBCU on the one side, and the Council of Trustees Association and the Ontario provincial government on the other. The collective agreement will be in effect for three years, from Sept. 1, 2019 through Aug. 22, 2022.  

The agreement included a one per cent wage increase for education support staff workers.  

“Tens of millions of dollars is pumped back into our schools because CUPE members stood strong against concessions and in defense of services supported by parents, students, and others in the education sector,” said Fred Hahn, CUPE president. Fred Hahn and Laura Walton represented 55,000 CUPE members during talks last month. 

According to a Ministry of Education press release that came out Monday afternoon, this agreement settles the “central terms” for the agreement, but not local terms.  

“In order to complete the collective bargaining process, local terms need to be reached between each school board and its CUPE bargaining units,” said the release.

The agreement promises the return of 1,300 support staff jobs in Ontario schools, and to restore $78 million in annual funding.  The agreement was reached late Sunday night, narrowly averting a province-wide strike scheduled to start the next day.  

Stephen Leece issued a statement Monday affirming the priorities kept by the provincial government.  

“The government remained a constructive force at the table with one mission in mind: keeping students in a safe and positive learning environment,” said Leece in the statement.