Education Workers Confront Ford Government
Education workers, CUPE Local 4400 contingent at October 22, 2022 rally in Etobicoke.
Education workers in Ontario represented by the Ontario School Boards Council of Unions (OSBCU) took their demands directly to government Members of the Provincial Parliament (MPPs) on October 21 and 22 to make their voices heard.
In Etobicoke on October 22 a large rally was held outside the annual convention of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party of Ontario which was attended by MPPs and party members. Speaking at the rally, OSBCU President Laura Walton told the crowd that the action was about workers using their voice. "We are the people of Ontario and we are using our voice," she said, pointing out that the unions' demand to raise wages is a demand of all workers in Ontario for wages that do not force them into poverty. She called on everyone to take the message back to their co-workers in all sectors that this fight is the fight of all working people in Ontario. In a most shameful display of arrogance, which fools no one about who defends the well-being of students, Education Minister Stephen Lecce is reported to have said of the rally that the union is "reminding us all that they will impose greater hardship on children, following historic learning loss and mental health adversity."
Education workers rally, Etobicoke, October 22, 2022.
The day before, Friday, October 21, education workers in Windsor held a rally outside of a local elementary school and then marched across the street to the office of Windsor-Tecumseh PC MPP Andrew Dowie. Before the march a representative of the workers spoke to the crowd and explained the deteriorating conditions in the schools and the necessity for proper funding and supports for the students in schools and for the workers like her who provide the education. A high school teacher then spoke, pointing out that for teachers their fight is one with that of education workers, not just a matter of supporting them. He pointed out that the Ford government is preparing to use force to attack education workers and it is incumbent on everyone to make plans now to stand as one when this happens.
Windsor rally, October 21, 2022
(Photos: CUPE 4400, F. Hahn, CUPE 1358)
This article was published in
Volume 52 Number 35 - October 26, 2022
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmld2022/Articles/D520352.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca