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Public school teachers in Ontario plan to launch court action today to challenge the Liberal government’s legislation that imposes a contract and takes away their right to strike for two years.

Unions representing teachers and school support workers plan a news conference outside a Toronto courthouse to talk about their challenge of the law that freezes wages for many of them.

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The unions say Bill 115 strips teachers of the right to bargain collectively and sets a dangerous precedent for similar legislation being proposed for the broader public sector.

But Education Minister Laurel Broten says the government is confident the legislation is constitutional.

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Broten says the Liberals ensured they did not violate the right to collective bargaining by allowing the teachers’ unions to negotiate deals before it passed the legislation.

Unions representing teachers at Catholic and Francophone schools in Ontario did accept the government’s original offer, which still allows younger teachers to move up the salary grid.