Four unions representing teachers and other education workers in Ontario have joined together to launch a court challenge against the Ford Government.
The challenge, launched by the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, says that the government’s Bill 124 (the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act) violates their members’ rights to negotiate.
The unions claim the legislation is a direct attack on collective bargaining for education workers and violates sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
They add Bill 124 also gets in the way of the government’s responsibility to negotiate fairly with the unions in good faith.
OECTA president Liz Stuart says given the timing of the bill, which received Royal Assent in November, the legislation clearly targets teachers and education workers.
ETFO president Sam Hammond says it violates the democratic rights of all workers in Ontario’s public sector.
