Ford to return to bargaining table with improved offer for CUPE

Ontario Premier, Doug Ford says the government is returning to the bargaining table today with an improved offer for CUPE’s education workers.

Ford said he can’t offer any specifics but apparently the new offer will be a significant improvement for the lowest paid education workers.

The new offer comes just one day after the premier promised to repeal legislation that imposed contracts on the Canadian Union of Public Employees workers and the union agreed to end its walkout.

READ MORE: Thousands of CUPE members hit picket lines, demanding fair wage

Ford says he’s glad both sides are at negotiations again, but cautions that any agreement made with the education workers will have an impact on the four major teachers’ contracts also in bargaining.

He says increases for CUPE could lead to “tens of billions of dollars” for increases to the teachers, and he needs to watch the province’s bottom line.

The premier says the government had previously offered a higher amount than what was in its original proposed contract, and he was “floored” that CUPE didn’t take it.

The government had originally offered raises of two per cent a year for workers making less than $40,000 and 1.25 per cent for all others, and the four-year deal imposed by the soon-to-be-repealed law gave 2.5 per cent annual raises to workers making less than
$43,000 and 1.5 per cent raises for all others.