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The union representing Ontario college instructors says it will be initiating a legal challenge over provincial legislation that sent striking members back to the classroom this week.
OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas says the union’s lawyers believe Premier Kathleen Wynne and the Liberal government “had other options” instead of forcing an end to the strike, he told Tasha Kheiriddin on AM640 on Thursday.
“They could have intervened much before the five-week mark without using the legislative hammer of return-to-work, which is of course, interfering with collective bargaining is against the constitution, so our lawyers say we got a case to make.”
LISTEN: Warren (Smokey) Thomas joins the Tasha Kheiriddin Show
The labour dispute affected about 500,000 students across the province.
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Some 12,000 instructors, librarians, counsellors and other staff at Ontario’s 24 public colleges went on strike on Oct. 15 after the union and the College Employer Council, which bargains on behalf of the colleges, could not come to an agreement.
Ontario’s legislature sat through the weekend in order to push through legislation to end the dispute, and classes resumed on Tuesday.
Tuition refunds have been promised for full-time students who choose to drop their courses this semester. Students are also eligible to apply to receive up to $500 for unexpected expenses related to the labour dispute.
— With files from the Canadian Press
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