Ontario colleges could strike on Friday. Here’s what that means
16,000 faculty at Ontario’s 24 public colleges could strike on Friday unless the College Employer Council (CEC) agrees to voluntary binding interest arbitration, says the union.
By Ivy MakToronto Star
Tue., March 15, 2022
The union representing more than 16,000 faculty members from Ontario public colleges is threatening to walk off the job Friday if its bargaining demands are not met.
In Brampton on Tuesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford addressed the looming strike deadline, adding he doesn’t like when anyone goes on strike, especially “when we went through such tough times.” He called on Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop, who added that the province is monitoring the process closely.
“I've heard from students and from parents who are very upset. Students cannot afford a strike at this time. They're finally back in the classroom. That's where they need to be,” Dunlop said.
Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) issued an open letter to college presidents on Monday, saying staff are prepared to strike if the College Employer Council (CEC) does not agree to “voluntary binding interest arbitration” to settle outstanding contract issues.
In response, the CEC notes that its made numerous attempts to reach an agreement, but the union rejected request without discussion, they said in a statement.
Here’s what we know so far.
When is the strike deadline?
Some 16,000 faculty at Ontario’s 24 public colleges could go on strike at 12:01 a.m. on Friday after staff rejected the latest offer from the CEC last month.
The union has been in contract negotiations with the CEC since July around better educational tools and job security. Ontario public college staff have been working without a collective agreement since Sept. 30. Negotiations between the two groups broke down in November.
The faculty have been working to rule since December, instead of picketing, said the union.
JP Hornick, chair of the bargaining team, said, “Our members are fighting for the best education for students,” said Hornick. “We haven’t made any unreasonable demands, and everything we have asked for is easily achievable.”
Who would the strike impact?
The looming strike deadline includes professors, librarians, instructors and counsellors employed by Ontario’s 24 public colleges. It could impact nearly a quarter of a million students. OPSEU represents more than 16,000 public college staff members.
It would impact colleges in the GTA including Centennial College, Durham College, George Brown College, Humber college, and Seneca college.
The College Student Alliance (CSA) is calling on the province to step in now ahead of a possible strike.
“Students should be the priority during this process. CSA encourages college faculty and the colleges themselves to come back to the table and negotiate to avoid a strike,” said Eli Ridder, president of the CSA in an emailed statement to the Star on Tuesday.
College students penned an open letter earlier this month addressed to the CEC, OPSEU, and the Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
The Ontario Students Association expressed fear of a repeat of the 2017 strike, which it says, “left students feeling that the culminating weeks of their year were rushed and incomplete, that they were unprepared for the workforce, and that their relationships on campus were damaged.”
The 2017 strike lasted five weeks before the province passed back-to-work legislation paving the way for students to return to class.
What is the union fighting for?
Bargaining team chair JP Hornick said union members want better job security for faculty who are on partial-load contracts. Hornick said the CEC reported profits of $1.65 billion in the last five years, most of it coming from outside contracts, unpaid overtime and uncompensated work of partial-load staff.
She added that due to Bill 124, which caps public-sector wage increases at one per cent a year for the next three years, the union is not bargaining for additional compensation.
The union is also demanding the following terms:
An improved mechanism to evaluate instructor workload
Increase maximum time they can dedicate to evaluate to 6.8 minutes per student, per week. Right now, this figure stands at five minutes per student.
Preparation time for online learning
Stop contracting out counsellors and other faculty work, especially in the midst of a mental health crisis for students.
Hire full-time academic librarians. There are 11 colleges without a full-time academic librarian and all of them offer degree programs.
Get faculty consent before the sale or reuse of faculty course materials.
Jointly led committees and round tables that can actually study, make and implement changes around workload, equity, and Indigenization, decolonization and Truth and Reconciliation.
What is CEC’s response?
The CEC says it made “numerous attempts to reach an agreement” with the union, and that in March 2021, asked OPSEU to, “extend the current agreement without any changes so that we could complete the school year without interruption and recognize the uncertain times in which we are living.” According to a statement by the CEC, the union rejected the request without discussion.
The CEC says the union is, “demanding changes that they know colleges cannot make,” like, “demands about their workload that violate the law governing compensation.”
“The Union is claiming it had no choice but to strike because the Colleges have refused to bargain and have refused arbitration. This is simply untrue.” read the statement by the council representing colleges.
Binding interest vs. final offer arbitration
In labour disputes, binding interest arbitration is often used in post-secondary education bargaining in order to resolve differences in the proposals from both sides. A third party neutral arbitrator is asked to review both proposals and “creates a compromise from the two proposals,” OPSEUs said. The union says binding interest is an alternative to a strike or a lockout.
The CEC, says the union, uses a different form of arbitration where the arbitrator selects the proposal from only one of the parties and appears to double down on its refusal to enter binding interest arbitration.
“These demands fall well outside any acceptable provision. We can never accept them,” says the CEC.
With files from Joshua Chong and Akrit Michael.
16,000 faculty at Ontario’s 24 public colleges could strike on Friday unless the College Employer Council (CEC) agrees to voluntary binding interest arbitration, says the union.
By Ivy MakToronto Star
Tue., March 15, 2022
The union representing more than 16,000 faculty members from Ontario public colleges is threatening to walk off the job Friday if its bargaining demands are not met.
In Brampton on Tuesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford addressed the looming strike deadline, adding he doesn’t like when anyone goes on strike, especially “when we went through such tough times.” He called on Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop, who added that the province is monitoring the process closely.
“I've heard from students and from parents who are very upset. Students cannot afford a strike at this time. They're finally back in the classroom. That's where they need to be,” Dunlop said.
Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) issued an open letter to college presidents on Monday, saying staff are prepared to strike if the College Employer Council (CEC) does not agree to “voluntary binding interest arbitration” to settle outstanding contract issues.
In response, the CEC notes that its made numerous attempts to reach an agreement, but the union rejected request without discussion, they said in a statement.
Here’s what we know so far.
When is the strike deadline?
Some 16,000 faculty at Ontario’s 24 public colleges could go on strike at 12:01 a.m. on Friday after staff rejected the latest offer from the CEC last month.
The union has been in contract negotiations with the CEC since July around better educational tools and job security. Ontario public college staff have been working without a collective agreement since Sept. 30. Negotiations between the two groups broke down in November.
The faculty have been working to rule since December, instead of picketing, said the union.
JP Hornick, chair of the bargaining team, said, “Our members are fighting for the best education for students,” said Hornick. “We haven’t made any unreasonable demands, and everything we have asked for is easily achievable.”
Who would the strike impact?
The looming strike deadline includes professors, librarians, instructors and counsellors employed by Ontario’s 24 public colleges. It could impact nearly a quarter of a million students. OPSEU represents more than 16,000 public college staff members.
It would impact colleges in the GTA including Centennial College, Durham College, George Brown College, Humber college, and Seneca college.
The College Student Alliance (CSA) is calling on the province to step in now ahead of a possible strike.
“Students should be the priority during this process. CSA encourages college faculty and the colleges themselves to come back to the table and negotiate to avoid a strike,” said Eli Ridder, president of the CSA in an emailed statement to the Star on Tuesday.
College students penned an open letter earlier this month addressed to the CEC, OPSEU, and the Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
The Ontario Students Association expressed fear of a repeat of the 2017 strike, which it says, “left students feeling that the culminating weeks of their year were rushed and incomplete, that they were unprepared for the workforce, and that their relationships on campus were damaged.”
The 2017 strike lasted five weeks before the province passed back-to-work legislation paving the way for students to return to class.
What is the union fighting for?
Bargaining team chair JP Hornick said union members want better job security for faculty who are on partial-load contracts. Hornick said the CEC reported profits of $1.65 billion in the last five years, most of it coming from outside contracts, unpaid overtime and uncompensated work of partial-load staff.
She added that due to Bill 124, which caps public-sector wage increases at one per cent a year for the next three years, the union is not bargaining for additional compensation.
The union is also demanding the following terms:
An improved mechanism to evaluate instructor workload
Increase maximum time they can dedicate to evaluate to 6.8 minutes per student, per week. Right now, this figure stands at five minutes per student.
Preparation time for online learning
Stop contracting out counsellors and other faculty work, especially in the midst of a mental health crisis for students.
Hire full-time academic librarians. There are 11 colleges without a full-time academic librarian and all of them offer degree programs.
Get faculty consent before the sale or reuse of faculty course materials.
Jointly led committees and round tables that can actually study, make and implement changes around workload, equity, and Indigenization, decolonization and Truth and Reconciliation.
What is CEC’s response?
The CEC says it made “numerous attempts to reach an agreement” with the union, and that in March 2021, asked OPSEU to, “extend the current agreement without any changes so that we could complete the school year without interruption and recognize the uncertain times in which we are living.” According to a statement by the CEC, the union rejected the request without discussion.
The CEC says the union is, “demanding changes that they know colleges cannot make,” like, “demands about their workload that violate the law governing compensation.”
“The Union is claiming it had no choice but to strike because the Colleges have refused to bargain and have refused arbitration. This is simply untrue.” read the statement by the council representing colleges.
Binding interest vs. final offer arbitration
In labour disputes, binding interest arbitration is often used in post-secondary education bargaining in order to resolve differences in the proposals from both sides. A third party neutral arbitrator is asked to review both proposals and “creates a compromise from the two proposals,” OPSEUs said. The union says binding interest is an alternative to a strike or a lockout.
The CEC, says the union, uses a different form of arbitration where the arbitrator selects the proposal from only one of the parties and appears to double down on its refusal to enter binding interest arbitration.
“These demands fall well outside any acceptable provision. We can never accept them,” says the CEC.
With files from Joshua Chong and Akrit Michael.
Ontario college faculty staged a five-week strike in 2017. It ended after the provincial government legislated employees back to work.
Author of the article: Jacquie Miller
Publishing date: Mar 15, 2022
A student walks past an Algonquin College sign at the Woodroffe campus on Tuesday.
PHOTO BY ERROL MCGIHON /Postmedia
Article content
Faculty at Ontario colleges, including Algonquin and Collège La Cité in Ottawa, are prepared to strike on Friday, says the union representing them.
As the clock ticks toward the 12:01 a.m. Friday strike deadline, each side in the dispute accuses the other of failing to be reasonable and says it wants to avoid disrupting the school year for students.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union union says they won’t stage a walkout if the colleges agree to use “binding interest arbitration” to settle contract negotiations that have reached an impasse.
That means a third-party arbitrator would settle the dispute, a course of action that is often employed in the post-secondary sector, the union said in an open letter.
“This would end the negotiations without a strike or lockout,” OPSEU’s letter said.
Ontario college faculty staged a five-week strike in 2017. It ended after the provincial government legislated employees back to work.
The College Employer Council, which bargains for management, has proposed “final offer” arbitration, which means both parties submit a proposal and an arbitrator picks one. That is supposed to force both parties to compromise.
The Employer Council, in a statement, said it offered a year ago to extend the current agreement with no changes “so that we could complete the school year without interruption and recognize the uncertain times in which we are living.”
Article content
Faculty at Ontario colleges, including Algonquin and Collège La Cité in Ottawa, are prepared to strike on Friday, says the union representing them.
As the clock ticks toward the 12:01 a.m. Friday strike deadline, each side in the dispute accuses the other of failing to be reasonable and says it wants to avoid disrupting the school year for students.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union union says they won’t stage a walkout if the colleges agree to use “binding interest arbitration” to settle contract negotiations that have reached an impasse.
That means a third-party arbitrator would settle the dispute, a course of action that is often employed in the post-secondary sector, the union said in an open letter.
“This would end the negotiations without a strike or lockout,” OPSEU’s letter said.
Ontario college faculty staged a five-week strike in 2017. It ended after the provincial government legislated employees back to work.
The College Employer Council, which bargains for management, has proposed “final offer” arbitration, which means both parties submit a proposal and an arbitrator picks one. That is supposed to force both parties to compromise.
The Employer Council, in a statement, said it offered a year ago to extend the current agreement with no changes “so that we could complete the school year without interruption and recognize the uncertain times in which we are living.”
The council says the union’s proposals are unrealistic and some are not possible — for example, a reduction in workload that an independent mediator said would contravene Bill 124, passed by the Conservative government to limit wages of public-sector employees.
Salary increases are not a key issue since that legislation prohibits increases in compensation of more than one per cent annually.
The union’s lawyer provided a different opinion, saying the proposals would not violate Bill 124.
Some major issues in the dispute are the same as they were in 2017: workload and job security and benefits for part-time staff.
Many college courses are taught by contract instructors who have no job security. “Essentially, they have to reapply for their position every (semester),” said Annette Bouzi, president of the OPSEU local at Algonquin.
The workload formula hasn’t changed since 1985, Bouzi said. However, the workload has increased “exponentially,” with changing technology adding things like email, building websites and digital platforms to every-day faculty duties.
Other issues include contracting out of work, the status of academic librarians and equity issues, she said.
The union represents 16,000 faculty, professors, librarians, instructors and counsellors at Ontario’s 24 publicly-funded colleges.
The contract expired Sept. 30, 2021. Negotiations began in July, but went nowhere, according to mediator Brian Keller, who was hired last fall to help the parties reach an agreement.
Keller concluded the unions’s proposals were “highly aspirational and completely unrealistic” and “almost all that was being sought by OPSEU was “unachievable either through direct negotiations with the employer or, if it came to that, in binding arbitration.”
The Employer Council forced a February vote on a final contract offer that union members rejected.
OPSEU members have staged a work-to-rule campaign since December. It includes, among other things, not working beyond the hours for which they are compensated, not entering grades into the college data system and not grading assignments, submitting grades, preparing courses or taking part in college activities or meetings during reading week.
“Faculty have done our best to limit the impact of our strike action on students and to avoid a picket line,” OPSEU’s letter said.
“Now, however, you (management) have again ramped up your threats against individual faculty and appear to be moving toward a lockout instead of negotiating a deal.”
The employer council says it will not lock out staff.
Jill Dunlop, Ontario’s minister for colleges and universities, said she was monitoring the situation. “I’ve heard from students and from parents who are very upset,” she said Tuesday in response to a question at an unrelated media conference.
“Students cannot afford a strike at this time. They are finally back in the classroom. That’s where they need to be, that’s where their best education is, where they are collaborating with their colleagues and their faculty.”
Student association presidents from eight Ontario colleges sent a letter to Dunlop, the union and management on March 4, saying students should not have their lives disrupted by the dispute.
“This is happening alongside various other global events, the most pervasive being the ongoing pandemic and the restrictions and difficulties it poses to students. Students are already experiencing surges in mental health crises, financial insecurity and reduced quality of education.”
The letter said students feared a repeat of the 2017 strike, which “left students feeling that the culminating weeks of their year were rushed and incomplete, that they were unprepared for the workforce, and that their relationships on campus were damaged.”
The student associations at Algonquin and La Cité were not among the signatories to that letter.
jmiller@postmedia.com
Ontario college students are absolutely freaking out over forthcoming strike
If you've been a student in Ontario in the last two years, you've had anything but the normal school experience that one would hope for.
The impromptu switch to completely remote learning has been a disaster for many, with only brief stints of a return to classroom for proper in-person instruction and undeniably vital socialization.
For post-secondary learners, it's been especially frustrating, as many feel that they haven't been getting what they're paying big bucks for. And now, a looming strike has served as the cherry on top of a crummy few semesters.
Approximately 16,000 faculty across the two dozen public colleges in Ontario are set to strike later this week, with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) saying in an open letter on Monday that members will strike starting this Friday if their demands are not taken seriously.
The union is asking that ongoing labour disputes be taken to binding interest arbitration, in which an impartial arbitrator looks at the wants of both parties and makes the ultimate decision — hopefully some type of fair compromise between the two — with both sides having to stick to their proposed resolution.
The deadline that OPSEU has given the College Employer Council (CEC) to respond is 12:01 a.m. on March 18, at which time employees will walk off the job if the CEC has not accepted.
Staff rejected the CEC's last offer in February, with their union saying in a letter yesterday that their employers have "told us from the outset of bargaining that [they] are unwilling to negotiate unless we drop our proposals that [they] find unacceptable."
"Binding interest arbitration has been the usual way for labour disruptions to be settled in the past when we have not been able to negotiate an agreement. It is the common way for labour disputes in the post-secondary sector to get resolved — common enough that it’s written into several collective agreements," the union's letter continues.
"All you have to do is AGREE... we will not strike if you agree to binding interest arbitration."
At this point, some seem sure that the union will indeed end up striking, while others are more hopeful that it may not happen.
But the threat of such an incident mid-second semester of the academic year is stressing the heck out of a lot of students, especially after what they've already had to deal with in terms of their education during the pandemic.
Instructors started work-to-rule action three months ago as part of the dispute, meaning that they have been deliberately doing the bare minumum required of them instead of going above in beyond — which has, of course, impacted students and their education.
Many are understandably pissed at the prospect of now also having to defer their schooling to a later date or completely lose the work they've done so far.
Those who have co-op and internship components in their programs are freaking out even more at the prospect of completely losing their placements.
And many feel completely in the dark about what a strike would mean for them.
"My college might be going on strike and it’s possibly the worst time to be doing it," one student tweeted in the middle of the night last night.
"If colleges strike I’m gonna lose my fkn mind I swear," another added around 1:45 a.m., also apparently kept awake by the drama.
Toronto institutions impacted include Centennial, George Brown, Humber, and Seneca Colleges, as well as nearby Durham, Conestoga, Fanshawe, Fleming, Georgian, Mohawk and Sheridan.
Students and staff at these schools will unfortunately just have to wait until Friday to see what happens.
If you've been a student in Ontario in the last two years, you've had anything but the normal school experience that one would hope for.
The impromptu switch to completely remote learning has been a disaster for many, with only brief stints of a return to classroom for proper in-person instruction and undeniably vital socialization.
For post-secondary learners, it's been especially frustrating, as many feel that they haven't been getting what they're paying big bucks for. And now, a looming strike has served as the cherry on top of a crummy few semesters.
Approximately 16,000 faculty across the two dozen public colleges in Ontario are set to strike later this week, with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) saying in an open letter on Monday that members will strike starting this Friday if their demands are not taken seriously.
The union is asking that ongoing labour disputes be taken to binding interest arbitration, in which an impartial arbitrator looks at the wants of both parties and makes the ultimate decision — hopefully some type of fair compromise between the two — with both sides having to stick to their proposed resolution.
The deadline that OPSEU has given the College Employer Council (CEC) to respond is 12:01 a.m. on March 18, at which time employees will walk off the job if the CEC has not accepted.
Staff rejected the CEC's last offer in February, with their union saying in a letter yesterday that their employers have "told us from the outset of bargaining that [they] are unwilling to negotiate unless we drop our proposals that [they] find unacceptable."
"Binding interest arbitration has been the usual way for labour disruptions to be settled in the past when we have not been able to negotiate an agreement. It is the common way for labour disputes in the post-secondary sector to get resolved — common enough that it’s written into several collective agreements," the union's letter continues.
"All you have to do is AGREE... we will not strike if you agree to binding interest arbitration."
At this point, some seem sure that the union will indeed end up striking, while others are more hopeful that it may not happen.
But the threat of such an incident mid-second semester of the academic year is stressing the heck out of a lot of students, especially after what they've already had to deal with in terms of their education during the pandemic.
Instructors started work-to-rule action three months ago as part of the dispute, meaning that they have been deliberately doing the bare minumum required of them instead of going above in beyond — which has, of course, impacted students and their education.
Many are understandably pissed at the prospect of now also having to defer their schooling to a later date or completely lose the work they've done so far.
Those who have co-op and internship components in their programs are freaking out even more at the prospect of completely losing their placements.
And many feel completely in the dark about what a strike would mean for them.
"My college might be going on strike and it’s possibly the worst time to be doing it," one student tweeted in the middle of the night last night.
"If colleges strike I’m gonna lose my fkn mind I swear," another added around 1:45 a.m., also apparently kept awake by the drama.
Toronto institutions impacted include Centennial, George Brown, Humber, and Seneca Colleges, as well as nearby Durham, Conestoga, Fanshawe, Fleming, Georgian, Mohawk and Sheridan.
Students and staff at these schools will unfortunately just have to wait until Friday to see what happens.
/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/gta/2022/03/14/toronto-lawyer-jeremy-diamond-deserves-more-than-a-reprimand-tribunal-rules/diamond_sitting.jpg)
