Education workers take labour protest to Main St. in Milton

Education workers gathered in front of the office of Milton MPP Parm Gill this morning as part of an ongoing battle with the Ontario government to reach a new contract agreement.

The crowd slowly started to come together early today (Nov. 4) on Main St. disrupting traffic for a short period.

The protests are taking place across the province at offices of Conservative Members of Parliament as well as at Queen’s Park where the largest contingent of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) have gathered to present their case in front of the Legislature.

Separating the sides during negotiations are wages, which the government says it will impose if an agreement cannot be hammered out.

The CUPE members, who are support staff at Ontario schools such as custodians and office workers, have said they will go on strike if contract demands are not met, but Education Minister Stephen Lecce is pushing through legislation that will make continued job action illegal and force the workers to return to their jobs.

CUPE has not yet indicated if they will ignore the back-to-work orders meaning the protests could spill over into next week.

Because of today’s protests, Halton’s Catholic schools are closed while public schools remain open.