OPSEU files Charter challenge over Wynne government’s back-to-work bill
Posted Nov 23, 2017 04:31:53 PM.
Last Updated Nov 23, 2017 05:03:31 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The union representing faculty at Ontario’s 24 colleges is initiating legal action against the Wynne Liberals for forcing an end to the more than month-long college strike.
OPSEU has filed a challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, saying the government’s back-to-work legislation interferes with the collective bargaining process, which is protected under the constitution.
Lana-Lee Hardacre is President of OPSEU at Conestoga College and tells 570 NEWS the government had the power to direct the College Employer Council to reach an agreement, but chose legislation instead.
“They could have given more time for a negotiated settlement. Waiting until that day until 5 p.m., certainly puts a big onus on them,” says Hardacre, “because they’re the ones that decided to go forward with legislation before we even had a chance to see what would happen at the table.”
On November 16, Premier Kathleen Wynne met with both sides, and gave them a 5 p.m. deadline to settle the strike, which they missed. Hardacre says they weren’t given an honest chance to negotiate, and now the motive is protecting workers’ rights.
“It’s very important for labour relations — for negotiations — to be happening throughout the whole process,” she says.
Hardacre expects the Charter Challenge to take a year or longer.
