Month: April 2016

Ontario women earn roughly 70% of what men do, and this gap widens for women who are racialized, Indigenous, immigrants, temporary migrants, disabled, or LGBTQ. It takes a woman in Ontario 15.5 months to earn what a man does in 12. This is the reason that Equal Pay Day is held in April, three-and-a-half months into the new year.

For Equal Pay Day 2016, CUPE Ontario and the CUPE Ontario Women’s Committee took part in several actions to draw attention to the gender pay gap, including leafleting on Bay Street and setting up a pop-up Gender Pay Gap Bake Shop. Members also joined the Equal Pay Coalition rally in downtown Toronto, where CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn addressed the crowd and called on the government to take immediate action to close the gender wage gap.

On Wednesday, April 20, 2016, Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas introduced the Time to Care Act in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Bill 188 calls for a minimum of 4 hours of hands-on care every day for residents of Ontario’s long-term care homes.

CUPE Ontario and the CUPE Ontario Health Care Workers’ Coordinating Committee have been lobbying on this important issue for several years through the Time to Care campaign. We are so proud of the tireless dedication of the CUPE members and advocates who put in so much effort to see this day happen.

But our work isn’t over yet—we need everyone’s support to ensure that the Liberal government and the Conservatives make this much-needed bill the law. Please contact your local MPP and ask them to support Bill 188.

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A major victory for Ontario’s education workers came this week as the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that Bill 115, passed by the Liberal government in the fall of 2012, violated the collective bargaining rights of education unions.

Bill 115 imposed contracts and limited the ability of education workers to strike.

The parties are now required to meet to determine a remedy. If an agreement can’t be reached, the matter will be referred back to the Ontario Superior Court justice who made the ruling for a decision.

Congratulations and thank you to our hard-working CUPE members and our partners in this successful Charter challenge: ETFO, OSSTF, and OPSEU.

The court found that the Ontario government’s Bill 115 imposed in the fall of 2012 was a violation of the collective bargaining rights of education unions 16
about an hour ago by: Village Media

TORONTO – The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and other education unions won a major court victory at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice Wednesday.

The court found that the Ontario government’s Bill 115 imposed in the fall of 2012 was a violation of the collective bargaining rights of education unions.

In his decision, Justice Lederer ruled that the passage of the Putting Students First Act infringed upon union members’ rights to meaningful collective bargaining under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

He also determined that the process the government engaged in was “fundamentally flawed.”

“This is a total vindication of our pursuit of democratic rights on behalf of our members,” said ETFO President Sam Hammond. “ETFO and its legal counsel acted as the lead in launching the Charter challenge in the fall of 2012 because, by imposing the terms and conditions of our members’ contract, the Ontario government abrogated teachers’ collective bargaining rights, including their right to strike.”

Bill 115 blatantly interfered with lawful collective bargaining activities in the education sector for three years.

It put the actions of the government beyond the review of the Ontario Labour Relations Board, outside the reach of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, and even above the courts.

In response, the Charter challenge was launched by ETFO as well as the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU).

Justice Lederer did not comment on a remedy for the parties.

The parties are now required to meet to determine a remedy.

If they are unable to reach agreement on a remedy, the matter will be referred back to Justice Lederer for a decision.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario represents 78,000 elementary public school teachers, occasional teachers and education professionals across the province.