The Ford government says it is expecting to receive a new contract offer from the union representing education workers set to strike in Ontario on Friday.
A government source told Global News Tuesday afternoon the province was still waiting for the offer, which officials hoped would come that evening.
“The team has been working throughout the day,” Laura Walton of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said Tuesday evening.
“We’re going to keep working and we’re hoping to have something, I know that there’s been talks back and forth with the mediator and my co-lead to make it happen.”
Earlier in the day, the Ford government indicated it was willing to return to the bargaining table amid the unprecedented showdown with CUPE.
The conflict has included the government tabling historic legislation which would impose a contract on workers and override provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
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Government sources told Global News the province was waiting for a potential counter-offer from CUPE, which represents thousands of education support workers.
A new offer would draw the government back to mediated talks.
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The third-party mediator originally asked the parties to hold three days of consecutive talks before the original Nov. 3 strike deadline, before a dramatic weekend escalation upended the entire process.
On Monday, Education Minister Stephen Lecce tabled legislation that would impose a four-year contract on CUPE members, remove their right to strike during the term, and limit the union’s ability to take the government to court.
CUPE responded by announcing a province-wide strike on Friday, Nov. 4.
On Tuesday, Premier Doug Ford said his priority is to keep students in class and called his offer to CUPE “generous.”
“We’ve been at the table and put forward a very fair offer and the union continues to charge ahead with strike action, ” Ford said, highlighting the impact on two million Ontario students and their families.
Even if the parties return to the bargaining table on Tuesday, however, the government says it won’t pause the legislation which is being pushed through Queen’s Park.
“We are willing to hear what they have to say but we are continuing to move forward in the legislature,” a government source told Global News.
— with files from Global News’ Isaac Callan
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