Education workers agree to end strike in Canada's Ontario

An education workers union agreed to end a strike that forced hundreds of school closures in Canada's most populous province after the Ontario government on Monday offered to rescind a controversial law that imposed a contract on the workers and outlawed strikes. Ontario Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative passed the law last week in anticipation of a strike by some 55,000 education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

An education workers union agreed to end a strike that forced hundreds of school closures in Canada's most populous province after the Ontario government on Monday offered to rescind a controversial law that imposed a contract on the workers and outlawed strikes.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative passed the law last week in anticipation of a strike by some 55,000 education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). The strike went ahead on Friday, forcing hundreds of schools in Ontario to shut. On Monday, Ford offered to rescind the law if the union agreed to end the standoff.

The offer to repeal the law was welcomed by education workers with cheers and union leader Laura Walton said they would be "collapsing" protest sites from Tuesday and return to negotiations. "We hope that this gesture is met with the same good faith by this government in a new proposal at the bargaining table as soon as possible," Walton said at a news conference.