Education workers and supporters hit the streets in Waterloo region

Hundred of schools across Ontario were closed Friday as thousands of education workers hit the picket lines, despite controversial legislation passed by the Ontario government making the job action illegal.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents 55,000 support workers such as custodians, administrative staff and educational support workers, said they are striking "until further notice."

CUPE workers and supporters have set up pickets near MPPs’ offices across Ontario, including in Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge.

CUPE has said its workers, who make on average $39,000 a year, are generally the lowest paid in schools.

“There are a lot of students in need and there’s not a lot of staff to go around, and my biggest concern is that we are understaffed and undervalued,” educational assistant Darla Steffen said at a protest in front of Waterloo NDP MPP Catherine Fife's office.

Protesters at the Regina Street office arrived early on Friday and began their march around 7:30 a.m.

By 8 a.m., roughly 100 protestors could be seen marching along Regina and King streets. Participants chanted and waived their signs as nearby cars honked their horns in support.

Protesters in Waterloo on Regina street showing their signs during the CUPE strike on Nov. 4. (CTV Kitchener)

The protests are happening even though the province passed legislation late Thursday that imposes a new four-year contract on education workers and makes a strike illegal.

As part of the bill, striking workers could face a daily fine of up to $4,000, while the union could be slapped with a $500,000 fine.

The legislation says the government intends to invoke the notwithstanding clause to keep the eventual law in force despite any constitutional challenges.

Despite that, protestors in Kitchener and Waterloo said they weren’t concerned and would continue the picket for as long as it took to have their message heard.

“For the government to show us this kind of disrespect, trying to pass a bill like the one they’re suggesting, is a slap in the face to people like us,” Steffen said.

Many said they were encouraged by support received so far.

"It’s amazing, the parents, the kids, the other unions," library technician Colette Schneider said at a picket set up in front of PC MPP Jess Dixon's office in Kitchener. "We have had nurses drop by just before their shift and spend half and hour marching with us. It’s amazing the support."

CUPE members protesting in Waterloo on Regina Street on Nov. 4. (CTV Kitchener)

The job action has shut down several school boards across the province to in-person learning, including Waterloo region Catholic schools.

"I feel like the eyes of the world are on us, because this is quite a challenge," said Anne Schlit, a high school educational assistant. "For 25 years I've been doing this and I make less now than I did 25 years ago just because of the inflation and everything like that."

Kitchener early childhood educator Sarah Arndt said she understands parents’ frustration with the disruption.

“But I do think for your child and for the other children in the classrooms in Ontario this is something that we need to get behind and stand up,” Arndt said in Kitchener. "We are in this for the long haul. We will do what it takes to get what we need."

Jeff Pelich, president of the Waterloo Regional Labour Council called the strike “a fight of a generation.”

“If we do not push back then we could potentially totally be changing the face of unions and labour in these country and in this province for good,” Pelich said Thursday night. “We want to make sure that this government hears very clearly that the labour movement will not stand by and allow this to happen.”