The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation has ordered its 60,000 members to vote on a proposal to send all outstanding contract issues to binding arbitration by October 27, ruling out all strike action in this bargaining round in the process. Unions representing elementary teachers and Catholic teachers are dragging their feet with strike votes.
While CUPE’s sellout materially weakened the education workers in their struggle, conditions remain highly favourable for the development of a mass working class movement against capitalist austerity and an end to real-terms wage cuts.
“It's pretty clear to me that workers are going to have to mobilize into rank-and-file committees to break the cycle of sellout contracts and never-ending cuts to education,” said an Ontario high school teacher.