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“This agreement puts us on a clear path to improving the working conditions of Ontario college faculty and the learning conditions of Ontario college students. It’s a testament to what our members can achieve when they stand up for their needs and their students’ needs.” — JP Hornick, OPSEU/SEFPO President
Toronto (27 Sept. 2022) — 15 months after the commencement of a round of bargaining that included the largest work-to-rule faculty job action in the history of Canadian colleges anduUniversities, labour negotiations between the college faculty division of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEFPO/NUPGE) and the College Employer Council (CEC) have come to an end.
New contract improves working conditions, equity, and job security
Arbitrator William Kaplan awarded a new collective agreement that will govern faculty working conditions at Ontario’s 24 public colleges until September 30, 2024. The new contract includes significant improvements in the areas of equity and job security for contract faculty and acknowledges the need to update the colleges’ 35-year-old formula for measuring faculty workload.
“This new collective agreement makes significant gains beyond what the employer was offering during bargaining,” said Ravi Ramkissoonsingh, union bargaining team co-chair. “The CEC’s lack of interest in bargaining these important issues was clear from day one. We’re glad that a neutral arbitrator was willing to award our members’ reasonable demands that the CEC repeatedly refused to agree to.”
Contract creates opportunity to improve the learning conditions for students
This round of bargaining was marked by a massive shift to online classes during the pandemic and provincial laws that limit the free and fair collective bargaining of public service employees.
“Despite the unconstitutional constraints of Bill 124, this may represent the most significant gains that any postsecondary faculty association has achieved in bargaining since the pandemic began,” said JP Hornick, President of OPSEU/SEFPO. “This agreement puts us on a clear path to improving the working conditions of Ontario college faculty and the learning conditions of Ontario college students. It’s a testament to what our members can achieve when they stand up for their needs and their students’ needs.”