College Management Response to Ontario Student Association

College Management Response to Ontario Student Association March 4, 2022

We are in receipt of the OSA Release expressing concern about whether the semester will be disrupted by a faculty strike or an escalation of work-to-rule such as we see beginning Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022.   

The past two years have been really hard for everyone. Every time we thought College life might be returning to normal, the pandemic would worsen and global events would create additional stress and anxiety. Despite these difficulties, the College sector across Ontario has persevered in providing students with the high-quality education they deserve.

Every few years the Colleges engage in negotiations with academic employees to discuss the terms of their employment contract. These negotiations occur on the provincial level and affect all Colleges, College employees, and students across Ontario.

Currently, the parties are at an impasse. We have been able to address and agree to many of the Union’s demands. Colleges are not currently seeking any concessions from faculty. There remain a few demands from faculty that we have consistently said the CEC/Colleges cannot agree to for fiscal, legislative, or operational reasons.

We have not refused arbitration but provided an alternative arbitration proposal for the same purpose of ending the impasse.

Indeed, we ask the union to reconsider our proposal for an arbitrated solution to ensure there will be no harm or interruption for students.

We share your frustration with the negotiation process. The CEC has created a resource hub for students available here. If you have additional questions, please reach out to info@collegeemployercouncil.ca for more information.

The Management Bargaining Team

Dr. Laurie Rancourt (she/her) Bargaining Chair, Humber College

Stephanie Ball (she/her) Executive Dean, Durham College

Goranka Vukelich, PhD (she/her) Executive Dean, Conestoga College

Ian Wigglesworth (he/him), Associate Vice President, George Brown College

Jeannine Verdenik (she/her) Executive Director, Confederation College

Les Casson (she/her) Associate Dean, St. Lawrence College