Ontario college students could soon see their winter semester cut short if the union representing faculty at the province’s 24 public colleges moves ahead with strike action in the coming weeks.
College faculty represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) are in a legal strike position as of Saturday, although they have not given the five-day notice that is required before job action can begin.
The union, which represents about 15,000 full-time and part-time professors and instructors, as well as counsellors and librarians, has been without a collective agreement since September.
The union and the College Employer Council (CEC) had agreed to enter non-binding mediation from Dec. 6 to 8 but no agreement was reached.
The union has also filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the ministry, claiming that the CEC is bargaining in bad faith.
OPSEU has said its primary concern is over job security, as over 50 per cent of faculty, librarians, and counsellors are employed on semester-long contracts and don’t have long-term job stability.
“Over the last decade, we’ve added just under 100,000 students but only 500 full-time faculty have been hired during that time throughout the system,” OPSEU bargaining team chair Ravi Ramkissoonsingh told CTV News. “Administrators have grown by three times that much.”
According to Graham Lloyd, the CEO of the CEC, the union is making demands that are unreasonable given the financial challenges colleges now face.
He said the union is asking for an extra five weeks of self-directed time in addition to the nine weeks of vacation staff already receive.
“They want to reduce their time in the classroom from 12 hours to less than 9 hours,” he said in an interview with CTV News Toronto earlier this week.
“These demands are something that colleges couldn’t accept in the best of times, but especially in the current climate.”
He noted that colleges are facing a significant reduction in revenue due to the recent cap that has been placed on international students.
“There is one estimate that the colleges will be losing approximately $1.7 billion over two years in their revenue streams,” he said.
The two sides are scheduled to meet again on Jan. 6 and 7 for mediation. Students will return to the classroom next week and are expected to get an update on the situation after the next mediation dates.
With files from CTV News Toronto’s Beth Macdonell and CP24’s Bryann Aguilar