A strike has been averted at colleges across Ontario, including Lambton and St Clair.
With an hour left before a midnight strike deadline, Ontario Public Service Employees Union’s college faculty bargaining team and College Employer Council announced the two sides have agreed to enter binding interest arbitration. Essentially that means a neutral third party will be brought in to find a compromise on outstanding issues.
Workload issues and protections for contract staff are among the main sticking points in the dispute.
Faculty at Ontario’s 24 public colleges have been without a contract since September, 2021 and working to rule since December.
A strike would have affected close to 250,000 students across the province.