Community colleges set Oct. 16 as strike deadline

Faculty with the province’s 24 community colleges have set a strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. Monday after talks with the College Employer Council broke down Tuesday.

“Today (Tuesday) was another frustrating day of bargaining, during which our employer once again refused to consider key faculty issues,” said J.P. Hornick, chair of the bargaining team for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, in a news release.

“They have walked away from the table. The purpose of setting a strike deadline is to get negotiations moving — before it’s too late.”

OPSEU represents more than 12,000 professors, instructors, counsellors and librarians working at the colleges. The membership includes full-time permanent and partial load contract faculty who teach seven to 12 hours a week.

“Our union team has been clear about its goals since bargaining began in early July,” Hornick said.

“We have put forward concrete proposals to improve education quality by including the voices of faculty and students in academic decisions; we have made the case for strengthening the complement of full-time faculty; and we have called on the colleges to read the signals from Queen’s Park and start treating contract faculty fairly.

“Unfortunately our employer is not moving forward on the issues faculty care about most — even in the case of no-cost items like academic freedom or longer contracts for contract faculty.”

OPSEU president Smokey Thomas urged the College Employer Council to get back to the table. “Students already have enough to worry about with their courses and exams and tuition fees,” Thomas said. “They don’t need the stress and anxiety of not knowing if they will be in class next week.” The OPSEU strike fund sits at $72 million.

In a statement on its website the College Employer Council outlined what was contained in their final offer: A 7.75 per cent salary increase; A new full-time faculty maximum of $115,378;

A new partial-load hourly maximum of $154.26;

improved conversion of contract faculty to full-time positions;

A plan to respond to Bill 148 when it becomes law;

More faculty autonomy over personal workloads; Enhanced benefits; And no concessions. The College Employer Council said their final offer “is comparable to, or better than, offers accepted recently by other public-sector employees, such as teachers, public servants and college support staff.”

Our employer is not moving forward on the issues faculty care about most