Education support workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees have voted to ratify their tentative agreement with the province.
The union on Monday announced the results of their province-wide ratification votes, which took place from Nov. 24 through Sunday night.
The union said more than three-quarters of their membership voted on the deal, with 73 per cent voting in favour of the new contract.
The ratification brings a close to a rocky negotiation process. The union was twice in a strike position, with the Ford government attempting to prevent the first job action by invoking the notwithstanding clause to try to legislate a new contract through Bill 28.
Other unions across the province expressed their support for CUPE, raising the potential for a broader labour demonstration.
The government ultimately repealed Bill 28 with both sides returning to the bargaining table.
The tentative deal was reached less than 24 hours before the union was set to hit the picket line.
“My coworkers and I stood up to the Ford government to get a forced contract off our backs as part of the repeal of the anti-worker Bill 28,” said Laura Walton, educational assistant and president of CUPE’s Ontario School Boards Council of Unions (OSBCU) in a written statement.
“This collective agreement is our first in 10 years to be freely bargained instead of forced on us with legislative interference."
