August Newsletter

August 09, 2021

August 2021

Welcome

This month, post-secondary institutions continue to prepare for the Fall 2021 cohort to start in September. Currently, many Colleges have mandated vaccines to live in residence or play varsity sports. Seneca College has made being vaccinated a mandatory requirement for anyone who would like to attend or work on campus. Each College will work with public health officials and have posted its vaccination policy, exemptions, and enforcement details on its websites. The Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) has provided an update on what is currently permitted. Read the MCU highlights below.

What's going on?

CEC News

MCU Update

YouTube
The CEC has launched a brand new YouTube Channel. Check out the latest bargaining video (in English and French) to learn why the management bargaining team is bargaining for #AFutureTogether.
As CAAT-A negotiations continue, new videos will be published to provide more in-depth explanations of the issues at hand. Make sure to subscribe so that you don't miss out.

Case Study- Private Career Colleges
Ontario’s public colleges have a world-class reputation for their diverse programming that prepares students to be career-ready and life-long learners. Over the years, several of Ontario’s public Colleges have partnered with private career colleges to offer the public Colleges’ programming to international students who undertake their studies in Canada where they have the appropriate credentials and work visa offered by the government of Canada. Learn more about Colleges’ partnerships with educational institutions affirmed through arbitration and the OLRB in our newest case study.

MCU has shared updated information regarding Fall 2021 planning for the post-secondary education sector. Below are some key highlights:

All in-person instruction and on-campus activities are permitted to resume without capacity limits or physical distancing requirements starting in Fall 2021.
Masks and face coverings will still be required for indoor settings and institutions are required to continue following provincial and federal public health and workplace safety requirements.
Institutions are encouraged to engage with their local public health unit to establish opportunities for vaccination clinics and vaccine promotion on campus and during events with high attendance.
Institutions are encouraged to be flexible to deliver academic instruction in the mode that best suits the needs of students and institutions, including virtual and hybrid delivery models.
Institutions are encouraged to have policies in place to leverage rapid antigen testing for routine screening of asymptomatic individuals in alignment with provincial testing guidance.

handshake

Bargaining Update

Part-Time Support Staff

Earlier this summer, a tentative deal was reached between the College employers' bargaining team and the OPSEU Part-time Support Staff team.
The new collective agreement will run from February 1, 2021, to January 31, 2024. Some of the amendments to the current collective agreement include:

A reduction in the probationary period from 936 hours to 742 hours
An increase in the recall period from nine to twelve months
A layoff meeting between the College and its local should 50 per cent of regular part-time staff employees or 15 regular part-time employees, whichever is greater, occur in a four-week period
A division in appendixes to separate temporary and casual employees

The virtual ratification vote will take place from August 13 to 17. It will be supervised and administered by the Ontario Labour Relations Board using Simply Voting.

CAAT-A Full-Time and Partial-Load Academic Bargaining

This month, the College management bargaining team is scheduled to meet with OPSEU CAAT-A faculty (made up of professors, librarians, and counsellors) virtually at the table.

For up-to-date information on tabled proposals from both CEC and OPSEU please visit the CEC website.