Members of striking CUPE education workers carry pickets outside the constituency office of Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland, November 7, 2022.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board held hearings over the weekend to determine if education workers striking was in fact illegal.

Ontario’s government is looking for the board to rule in their favour to confirm that the strike is illegal and the 55,000 CUPE members will be forced back to work. To which the union has said they will remain off work regardless of the board’s ruling.

This all comes on the heels of the province passing Bill 28 which imposes a four-year contract onto the education workers without their consultation, as well as making walk-out job action against the law, which includes hefty fines.

Fines for disobeying the ban on strikes go up to $4,000 per employee per day, when the math is done for 55,000 workers that works out to be $220 million for union members and $500,000 per day for the union.

On Monday, Premier Doug Ford announced that if CUPE comes back to the bargaining table that he would rescind the legislation making the strikes illegal. When asked by reporters, he did not say that would agree to binding arbitration.

Meanwhile, several schools across Ontario were closed on Friday and Monday as education workers and supporters walked picket lines at MPP offices across Ontario.

CUPE has said it will fight the fines, but also pay them if necessary.