Prime Minister Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce held a press conference this morning about the "classroom disruption" as education workers in Ontario prepare to escalate their job actions. This comes as thousands of education sector employees in the province are striking for the fourth day and a new poll shows that six out of 10 Ontario residents blame the Ford government for the ongoing work disruption.

Media for Ford and Lecce was scheduled to be provided at Queen's Park at 9 a.m., where two hours later at 11 a.m., the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) president, along with several national and regional labor leaders, were expected to announce an escalation in the fight against Bill 28. The bill was introduced in the legislature last Monday by Lecce and passed late Thursday afternoon.

The "Keeping Students in Class Act" makes it illegal for CUPE education workers to strike. It also imposes a four-year contract, and this legislation was passed late Thursday afternoon.

Also, a source told CTV News Toronto that "nothing is off the table" at this stage and CUPE is exploring actions that other members, outside the local education sector, might take, including a larger political protest. Fifty-five thousand custodians, early childhood educators, educational assistants, and administrative staff in Ontario left their jobs last Friday after failing to reach a contract agreement with the Ford government, as staff have been without a contract since August 31, and despite several rounds of talks, no new collective agreement has been negotiated yet.

Among other things, CUPE wants an annual wage increase of $3.25/hour (11.7%), early childhood educators in every kindergarten class, five additional paid days before the start of the school year, 30 minutes of daily paid preparation time, an increase in overtime pay, and a $100 million investment in creating new job opportunities.

The latest offer made by the Ford government is a four-year deal including an annual increase of 2.5% for workers earning less than $43,000, and an annual wage increase of 1.5% for those earning more. This is higher than their initial offer of 2% annual increases for workers earning less than $40,000 and 1.25% otherwise.

Also, over the weekend, the Ontario Labour Relations Board held a hearing to determine the legality of this job action, and a ruling is expected today.