The Ontario Public Service Employees Union has requested a "no-board" report from the conciliator in its contract dispute with the province's 24 community colleges.
The move means the union -- which represents college faculty -- and the employer will be in a legal strike or lockout position by mid-October.
Either party can ask for the report under the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act, and it is usually issued within a few working days of the request.
Workers can then strike, or their employer can lock them out, 16 days later.
Union bargaining team chair J.P. Hornick says calling for the no-board report is an attempt to trigger real negotiations around education quality, fairness for contract faculty and other issues.
