Ontario college faculty, including those at St. Clair College, are threatening to walk off the job at the end of the week.
Representing around 16,000 college educators across the province, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEFPO) said it has set a strike deadline for 12:01 a.m. on Friday, threatening to hit the picket line if the College Employer Council (CEC) does not agree to voluntary binding interest arbitration.
Binding interest arbitration involves both parties’ asking a neutral arbitrator to resolve a bargaining dispute as an alternative to a strike or lockout.
Faculty at Ontario’s 24 public colleges have been working to rule since December to avoid possible strike action. However, after months of bargaining, educators voted to reject the CEC’s final offer on February 17.
“Faculty have done our best to limit the impact of our strike action on students and to avoid a picket line,” the union said in a letter to administration. “Now, however, you have again ramped up your threats against individual faculty and appear to be moving toward a lockout instead of negotiating a deal.”
However, OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas said it’s not too late to avoid a strike.
“I firmly believe we can reach a deal at the bargaining table,” he said in a news release. “I’m convinced a deal is there and that we can avoid a messy strike that is not in anybody’s best interests.”
In 2017, the Ontario government passed back-to-work legislation to end the last strike at provincial colleges, which had lasted five weeks. A third-party arbitrator was later assigned to settle the contract dispute.
