Education workers make our public schools great. They clean our yards. They maintain our buildings. They supervise our kids at lunch time. They clean our classrooms. They help our youngest kids and our kids with disabilities. We know them by their first names. They are part of our school community.

Education workers earn an average of $39,000 a year. Many work two jobs to make ends meet. Some have to go to food banks because their pay doesn’t go far enough, especially in this inflationary crisis we have. Many are leaving the profession.

I want our kids in class. Everyone wants our kids in class. No one wants a strike. That is why our schools need to receive the funding that they need so our kids can get an excellent education. That is why this government needs to stop violating the charter-protected rights of all workers, stop this bullying behaviour and get back to the negotiating table. That’s why this government needs to use the surplus that they have in their budget to negotiate a fair contract with workers, because that is the right thing to do for our kids, it’s the right thing to do for workers, and it’s the right thing to do for the people of Ontario.

My question is to the Premier.

While this government is actively stripping away the collective bargaining rights from workers, we’ve been listening to education workers in my community of Niagara Falls, in Fort Erie and in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

In Niagara, we spoke to Carrie, a school secretary who has been a loyal worker for nearly 20 years. She still makes under $39,000 a year, and she has a second job just to make ends meet. She even considered getting a third job because of the increased cost of food, gas and housing.

Does this Premier think that education workers should have to work two extra jobs in order to avoid using food banks?

Ma question est pour le premier ministre.

We are joined today by members of OSSTF and OPSEU, including medical lab technologists, teachers, social workers, educational assistants, early childhood educators and many other essential workers. They are calling for immediate action to respect all of those public workers.

Premier, will you listen to those professionals and other unionized public sector workers and withdraw Bill 28 and go back to the bargaining table with CUPE?