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Thousands of education workers in Ontario protested on Friday after the Conservative government of this Canadian province approved a bill in Parliament that would criminalize strikes.
Although Bill 28 outlaws the right to strike, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, CUPE, announced that its members would suspend work.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce are using their draconian strike ban to further and massively cut real wages through arbitrary decrees, union members warned.
It is estimated that over 55,000 school custodians, educational assistants, early childhood educators and administrative staff will participate in the demonstration.
The lowest paid in the education sector, the support staff, are determined to reverse the years of real salary cuts and ensure greater funding for an education system bled dry by decades of austerity, according to digital media.
According to reports, those mobilized will picket in front of politicians’ offices across the province, with a major demonstration planned for the legislature.
For its part, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union announced on Thursday that its 8,000 workers in the education sector will also walk off the job on Friday in solidarity with those of CUPE.
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