Unity. Democracy. Solidarity.
Doug Ford is bullying education workers, already seriously underpaid, into being forced to accept a “contract” that will see them endure four more years of starvation wages.
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Ford is counting on people blaming workers for the shut downs - even though it’s Ford himself who is responsible. By invoking the Notwithstanding Clause as a hardball negotiation tactic, knowing that otherwise his strikebreaking would inevitably be ruled illegal, he is adopting a “shock and awe” approach designed to intimidate workers.
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If he succeeds in getting away with diluting the Notwithstanding Clause into just another tool in the toolbox to punish workers, he will have carte blanche to upend Ontario’s public sector for four years - making life harder, more expensive, and less accessible for everyone.
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But there is a flip side. By overreaching so hard, so fast, he is putting his entire administration in jeopardy of massive public backlash. It’s our job to help ensure that backlash materializes in a united front, and reaches Ford's ears.
We Rise Together, Or We Fall Apart.
Ford is counting on the public supporting him, or at least being apathetic or neutral. If we can demonstrate rapid and strong public resistance, we can force him and his caucus to reassess and question if he’s miscalculated - which can force him to back down and get to the bargaining table.
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We’ll do this by flooding PC MPPs with messages of outrage; by showing up and supporting workers in their fight; and through grassroots digital organizing, reaching the public where they are online - on Facebook and Twitter, Nextdoor and Instagram, Twitch and Spotify - while also amping up public pressure and countering Ford’s lies in comments sections of major newspapers that we know his MPPs read.
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To read more about our plan and our key messages, click here.
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If you have a PC MPP in your riding, click here to use our tool to quickly send them an email demanding they secure long-term stability in schools by adequately paying essential workers.
Essential Workers. A Defining Moment.
Education workers are absolutely critical to the effective functioning of Ontario's schools. When Ford claims that strikes will disrupt schools, he is admitting that schools can't operate without education workers.
But these workers make, on average, just $39,000 a year. More than half are forced to work multiple jobs. And many are single-parent providers struggling to get by. Here's the truth: education workers are not paid enough to survive, which means they're not paid enough to stay on the job.
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We've seen Ford do this before with Bill 124, which capped nurses pay below the rate of inflation - essentially a pay cut, every year, for every nurse. As a result, nurses have quit in droves. Coupled with the pandemic, this has resulted in a crisis in healthcare.
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Once is a mistake; twice is a pattern. It's clear that Doug Ford is intentionally bullying workers and chasing them out of the field, making it impossible for public schools to continue to operate properly, and attempting to commit Ontario to four more years of chaos and disruption. We must secure the long-term stability of our schools, ensuring wages are sufficient to retain essential staff, and stand up to Ford's bullying.