The union representing 23,000 support staff at Ontario’s 24 colleges is being asked to take two of its demands off the table as a potential strike looms.

The College Employer Council, which bargains on behalf of the colleges, wants the Ontario Public Service Employees Union to withdraw its requests seeking a ban on college mergers and staff reductions.

Chief Executive Officer Graham Lloyd calls the requests unreasonable, given declining enrollments and financial pressures the colleges are facing.

“There remain many issues to address at the bargaining table. However, these are demands no college operating in Ontario could ever accept,” states Lloyd in a release.

“OPSEU is ignoring the reality that college enrollment and revenues are down as much as 50 per cent. No organization managing a drop like this can commit to these out-of-touch demands.”

Lloyd adds that the requests threaten the sustainability of Ontario’s college system.

He says removing the demands would go a long way toward negotiating a new agreement.

The colleges are offering wage increases of 2%  in each year of the contract, enhancements to certain benefits, increased recall rights for employees with less than two years of service and enhancements to severance for laid-off employees.

They have also suggested mediation and arbitration to help settle an agreement, which the union have rejected.

Among its demands, OPSEU is seeking wage increases of 4%.

The college’s support staff have supported strike action to back demands and set next Thursday as a deadline.

The two sides have talks scheduled for the days leading up to that deadline.