Canadore College professors, instructors, counsellors, and librarians are among the 12,000 Ontario public college faculty from 24 public colleges across Ontario now on strike.
An offer Saturday from the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) to the College Employer Council (CEC) did not result in a tentative collective agreement.
Chair of the bargaining team, JP Hornick says the union streamlined their offer so that it covers the “bare minimum,” needed to provide quality education, and helps ensure professors who work on a contract basis are treated fairly.
Canadore College president and CEO George Burton says that the union should let faculty members vote on the final offer the colleges made that was “comparable to, or better than,” public-sector settlements from the recent past, including agreements struck with teachers and provincial public servants.
Burton says the demands of the faculty union would “add $250 million to annual costs, eliminate thousands of contract faculty jobs, and jeopardize the quality of college programs.”
Meanwhile, 500,000 Ontario college students will be affected by the work stoppage. Canadore students have been given instructions via the school’s website on how to handle picket lines and reassuring the student body that no Ontario college student has ever lost their entire academic year due to a strike.
According to the website, Canadore’s campuses will remain open to provide non-academic services. Student success services will continue. All postsecondary programs offered on a full-time basis will be suspended.
