Ontario college faculty vote to approve new contract

TORONTO -- Faculty at Ontario's 24 colleges have ratified a new collective agreement in a vote held on Monday.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union says the new two-year agreement, which includes no wage gains, was approved by 88.8 per cent of voting members.

The agreement includes improvements to job security for vulnerable partial-load workers and makes progress in clarifying the role of co-ordinators.

OPSEU president Smokey Thomas says the deal became possible when the College Employer Council withdrew all of its demands from the table.

OPSEU represents more than 10,000 faculty members at colleges across Ontario.

Faculty members include counsellors, instructors, professors and librarians.