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The contract bargaining agent for Ontario colleges has asked the Ministry of Labour to appoint a conciliator to help reach an agreement with 15,000 part-time support workers.
The College Employers Council (CEC) which represents all of the province’s 24 colleges, including Algonquin and La Cité in Ottawa, said negotiations are at an impasse.
The CEC has been in negotiations with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) since January 2024 and OPSEU has refused requests for mediation going back to last September, said the CEC.
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The workers have not held a strike vote and are not in a strike position, and the colleges can’t lock out the workers.
OPSEU’s demands have included five paid sick days per calendar year for all employees who have worked more than 20 shifts; no loss of pay for workers whose shifts are cancelled with less than 24-hours notice and six per cent wage increases for 2024 and 2025.
OPSEU said the members have not had a wage increase for more than a year, with minimal increases in recent years.
The CEC said it has offered “breakthrough provisions” on matters including sick days and cancelled shift pay and remains committed to offering wage and vacation pay increases.
“The union is ignoring the stark financial reality faced by Ontario colleges, which are projected to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in the coming years due to a combination of declining international student enrolment and higher costs,” said the CEC’s CEO, Graham Lloyd, in a statement.
In recent weeks, colleges across the province have announced that they are cutting programs, laying off staff and closing campuses.
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