Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce placed his slogan of "Keeping Kids in School" in an early morning debate in an attempt to push anti-strike legislation that could prevent 55,000 education workers from walking off the job on Friday. The legislature also met at 5 a.m. today for the second reading of the "Keeping Students in Schools" Act, which aims to impose a four-year contract on education staff and prevent them from striking.

"Right now, our students need continuous learning inside the classroom," Lecce said during his hour-long opening statement on Tuesday morning. Likewise, his remarks largely focused on the necessity of "keeping kids in school" after two years of a pandemic that disrupted learning and mentioned only briefly the support staff sitting on the other side of the bargaining table, adding: "Young people are bearing the burden of this pandemic where their lives came to a halt." Also, the provincial government aims to pass this legislation before the planned Friday strike, as Lecce introduced the legislation Monday afternoon after an emergency mediation session the previous day between CUPE, the mediator, and school board representatives failed to reach an agreement.

In the same vein, Ontario legislators opposing the anti-strike bill said it is "horrifying" that the average salary of a worker in the CUPE bargaining unit who is requesting a wage increase is $39,000 while inflation is in the double digits. They also pointed to the province’s 27-week classroom shutdown, which they described as the "worst record during the pandemic in any province," blaming the government—not education workers. Chris Glover, Member of Parliament for Spadina-Fort York, said, "This is a discussion about the fundamentals of our democracy. In this case, the province is aiming to push anti-strike legislation and prevent constitutional challenges," which Glover described as a "slippery slope" that he finds "very scary." Also, referring to the fact that the majority of education workers are women, Lisa Gretzky, MP for Windsor West, said the proposed legislation is in fact "intimidation of women."

Despite the potential legislation, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents custodians, librarians, early childhood educators, education assistants, and administrative staff in the English and French public and Catholic boards in Ontario, says its members will continue to walk off the job on Friday for a one-day protest. Additionally, both the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board stated they will close for in-person learning on Friday if the strike proceeds as planned. The English and Catholic public boards in Durham also plan to do the same. Education workers in Ontario have been without a collective agreement since August 31, and despite several rounds of talks, a new agreement still needs to be negotiated.

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 school year begins, 30 minutes of paid daily prep time, an increase in overtime pay, and a $100 million investment to create new jobs. Ford government's last offer, proposed in an emergency mediation session Sunday afternoon, was a four-year deal including a 2.5% annual raise for workers earning less than $43,000, and a 1.5% annual wage increase for those earning more. This is higher than their initial offer of 2% annual raises for workers earning under $40,000 and 1.25% otherwise.

In early October, CUPE announced that its members voted 96.5% in favor of walking off the job if a contract agreement with the provincial government is not reached. The union then requested Ontario’s Ministry of Labour to grant what is known as a no-board report, meaning a conciliation board will not be appointed. The green light, which legally allowed workers to walk off the job in 17 days (November 3), was given on October 17. A five-day notice must be given before the union begins the strike. Last week, mediation negotiations between the two sides began but collapsed after just two days. All five major education unions in Ontario are also in the midst of bargaining with the province after their contracts expired on August 31.