More than 10,000 full-time support staff at Ontario’s 24 publicly-funded colleges are now on strike.
This comes after the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the College Employer Council (CEC) failed to reach a new agreement.
Both sides remained far apart on a number of important issues ahead of the 12:01 a.m. ET strike deadline.
The CEC had called on the union to withdraw its requests seeking a ban on college mergers and staff reductions.
CEO Graham Lloyd called the requests unreasonable, given declining enrollments and financial pressures the colleges are facing, and said they threaten the sustainability of Ontario’s college system.
“There remain many issues to address at the bargaining table. However, these are demands no college operating in Ontario could ever accept,” Lloyd said in a news release last week.
“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.”
The colleges offered wage increases of two per cent 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 also suggested mediation and arbitration to help settle an agreement, which the union has rejected.
Among its demands, OPSEU is seeking wage increases of four per cent per year.
The union said the last counter-proposals by CEC included “minor movements” but nothing that keeps their work in-house and ensures that colleges remain adequately staffed and open.
“With no response from the employer since 4 p.m. yesterday, they have walked away from the table,” OPSEU said in a news release early Thursday.
OPSEU strikers picket at Thunder Bay’s Confederation College.
Owen Smith, president of OPSEU local 731, wants to draw attention to cuts at Ontario colleges. “There have been over 10,000 layoffs in the past year across the province, and approximately over 650 programs cut at Ontario colleges.”
Asked about the impact of these cuts, Smith said “The students are going to suffer unfortunately, because they’re not going to get the supports that they need. We’re not there. I’d rather be in the building helping students register – it’s still within the first ten days of classes, students want to make changes.”
“It’s going to be challenging for them to make those changes right now, because our managers, unfortunately, don’t know what we do,” Smith added.
Locally, picket lines are being set up at the Confederation College campuses in Thunder Bay, Dryden, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout and Fort Frances.
Classes are continuing and campuses remain open, but some student services may be delayed or reduced, said the college.
