Faculty strike averted at Ontario colleges as both sides agree to binding arbitration

A strike by faculty at Ontario’s 24 public colleges was averted Wednesday, with both sides reaching an agreement on key points and a promise to resolve any outstanding issues in mediation and arbitration.

Professors, librarians and counsellors were expected to begin job action on Thursday – a prospect that didn’t sit well with students at Conestoga College in Kitchener.

“I’m paying for these classes, so I would like them to be the same,” said one.

“I don’t want to miss a bunch of classes,” said another. “I feel like I’d get behind.”

The agreement means classes will continue without interruption.

“I feel good now,” one student said. “This is my last semester of school. I’m going to be able to continue on with my education and graduate.”

OPSEU, the union representing full-time and partial load faculty, librarians and counsellors, as well as the College Employer Council, said they reached an agreement on benefits after two days of mediation.

“Everyone is quite positive about it,” said Leopold Koff, president of OPSEU CAAT-A Local 237, which represents more than 1,300 employees at Conestoga College.

“We were able to avoid a strike and the students are able to be focusing on what students ought to be focusing on,” said Graham Lloyd, College Employer Council's CEO.

Some major issues still need to be resolved and will move to arbitration if necessary.

One of the main concerns is workload.

OPSEU said colleges are operating under guidelines developed 40 years ago and employees want to be paid for the work they are already doing outside the classroom.

“It’s about the changes that are required to bring everything, in terms of the workload, assignment and methodologies, up to date,” explained Koff. “That’s really what this is about – modernizing our system.”

“We go with a focused set of issues that are aimed at making improvements to working conditions, rather than taking things away from faculty and students,” said OPSEU President JP Hornick.

According to the College Employer Council, workload guidelines were reviewed around 2010 and faculty are now asking for a significant reduction in teaching time that the colleges can’t afford.

“As much as technology may complicate some of their workload, at the same time, we know that it would be easier and less time associated with some of the work that they would do,” explained Graham Lloyd, CEO of the College Employer Council. “We need to find out where that right balance is, and it will be through the third-party assistance of the mediator.”

It is something colleges will have to consider while also addressing lower enrollment due to new international student caps.

No details have been shared about upcoming mediation dates, but all parties expect the process will wrap up before the end of June.

On its website, the College Employer Council noted that Ontario colleges have never lost a semester to a strike.