The union representing faculty at Ontario’s 24 public colleges says its members have delivered a strong strike mandate.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union’s says 79 per cent of those who participated in the vote supported a strike mandate, with 76 per cent of members casting a ballot.
The union, which represents some 15,000 professors, instructors, librarians and counsellors, says workload and job precarity are among the key issues at bargaining.
OPSEU says it remains hopeful a contract can be negotiated with the College Employer Council (CEC).
The council says it has offered to engage in mediation-interest arbitration, and that any kind of strike is “unnecessary.”
During mediation-interest arbitration, a neutral third-party hears submissions and evidence from the union and employer before issuing a final, binding decision, according to the province.
The union’s contract expired on Oct. 1 and the parties have since held two days of conciliation talks.
Chantal Mancini, assistant professor of labour studies at Brock University, said the vote shows union members are united and serious about their demands.
Strike votes are often one of the best ways to avoid a strike, she said.
“It sounds counterintuitive but it does the job of pressurizing the table so that the other side will move toward an agreement,” she said.
Mancini said government underfunding for public services has created challenges for faculty, impacting their workload.
“Union members are expected to do more with less,” she said.
Council hoping that faculty ‘will put students first’: CEO
Graham Lloyd, CEO of CEC, said in an interview that the council is hopeful faculty “will put students first and proceed with interest arbitration.”
He said the OPSEU rejected the council’s first proposal of interest arbitration and has not yet responded to a second.
The union’s demands would annually increase college costs by almost $1 billion, according to a CEC news release Friday.
Lloyd said the cost “is something [the union] knows the colleges can’t afford and can’t accept.”
He said the council is hoping to avoid a strike, which would cause unnecessary stress and uncertainty for students.
“Right now, the parties are extremely far apart, but we’re confident that with the support of a neutral third party, we’d be able to … reach a negotiated deal,” he said.
