Faculty strike vote and bargaining talks on the rise for Ontario Colleges

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: MELISSA NOVACASKA
Both bargaining teams will be back at the bargaining table on Sept. 18 after a strike vote on Sept.14.

On Sept. 14, a faculty strike vote will take place to determine whether the faculty from the 24 colleges from across Ontario support the Ontario Public Service Employees Union's (OPSEU) or the College Employer Council's (Council) vision for the future of the college system.

“Now that the college system is turning 50, it's time to sit back and look at what's working and what's not,” Darryl Bedford, president of the OPSEU local 110 and member of the 2017 CAAT-A bargaining team said. “We are asking our members to back our vision on Sept. 14.”

Bedford said that OPSEU's plan focuses on building a better college system.

Part of OPSEU's plan is for each college to have an academic senate to be responsible for academic decisions.

Bedford explained that an academic senate is not unprecedented, since Sheridan College has one in addition to colleges in other provinces.

Bedford explained that the senate's decisions would be more binding than those of the current college council at Fanshawe.

One issue raised by Bedford was that 81 per cent of teaching at colleges is performed by precarious contract faculty. According to Bedford, these contract faculty members must constantly re-apply for work every four months, which gives them no job security.

In addition, Bedford explained that precarious contract faculty have little to no time to prepare their course loads. Bedford also stated that a lot of the language in the collective agreement is out-of-date, using the definition and role of a counselor as an example.

In regards to negotiations, the Council has put forth an offer of settlement.

According to the Council's academic bargaining update, published on Aug. 28, the newest offer of settlement features a number of things including:

• A 7.5 per cent salary increase

• A new maximum salary of $115,094 that would be in place by Oct. 1, 2020

• Positive changes to pregnancy and parental leave

• Expanded catastrophic drug coverage

• A lump-sum payment of $500 for full-time faculty and $250 for partial-load

The Council has extended their offer of settlement to Sept. 29 and the current collective agreement expires on Sept. 30.

Don Sinclair, the chief executive officer for the College Employer Council and member of the bargaining team explained that there are no concessions in the offer of settlement.

“We believe it is a good offer and that it is fair and reasonable,” Sinclair said.

According to an academic bargaining update, the college estimates that implementing the union's demands would cost the system over $400 million.

In addition, the Council has stated in the bargaining update that “collective bargaining addresses terms and conditions of employment — not governance.”

Also, the faculty members are not the exclusive voice to academic decision making as the colleges seek input from students, various stakeholders, program advisory committees, support staff and employers.

According to the Council academic bargaining update, “the strike vote outcome will be decided by a 50 per cent + 1 majority of those who show up and cast their vote.”

Both OPSEU and the College Employer Council's bargaining teams will return to the bargaining table on Sept. 18.

Faculty members who would like to learn more about the OPSEU's vision/plan and response to the College Employer Council's offer can go to https://opseu.org/news/ two-visions-system-crisis-caat-negotiations-bulletin-issue-6 to read their newsletter.

Faculty members who would like to learn more about the College Employer Council's offer of settlement and response to the OPSEU's plan can go to https:// thecouncil.on.ca/articles/1597 to read their academic bargaining update.