Riding a record turnout, College Faculty deliver historic strike mandate with overwhelming “yes” vote

Faculty across Ontario’s 24 public colleges, represented by OPSEU/SEFPO, have delivered a historic strike mandate to their bargaining team, sending a strong message that workers will not tolerate the employer’s serious concessions taking precedence over a fair contract which invests in quality education.

On Friday, October 18^th, college faculty concluded a province-wide strike mandate vote following a 21-hour extension issued by the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB). In a record turnout, 76.1% of members cast their ballots. Marking another historic high, 79% of members voted “yes” to authorize strike action, if necessary, in reaching a fair settlement.

“An overwhelming majority of over 15,000 members have made it clear that we will not accept a contract rife with concessions,” said Michelle Arbour, Acting Chair of the College Faculty Bargaining Team. “We’re fighting for a shared future where students and faculty can both thrive.”

Arbour says that bargaining efforts have been frustrated by the College Employer Council’s (CEC) inflated and unsubstantiated costings of faculty proposals at a time when the Colleges continue to rake in billions of surplus profits.

“We have members working outside their contracts, and we have workload language that is nearly 40 years out of date,” added Arbour. “Instead of resolving workload concerns, the CEC has tabled proposals that amount to real-time wage cuts, introduce new lay off provisions, narrowly define what teaching entails, and make it significantly harder for partial-load faculty to achieve some semblance of job security.”

Despite two sessions with a Ministry-appointed conciliator, Arbour explained that the CEC has yet to move off concessions that risk cultivating greater job instability amidst growing, system-wide precarity.

“Three-quarters of all teachers, counsellors, and librarians working in Ontario colleges struggle with affordability on short-term contracts with little to no benefits or job security,” added Arbour. “Those aren’t conditions anyone would wish for themselves. A precarious labour force does not equate to better learning conditions, but it does reflect that the Colleges have moved from prioritizing student experience to prioritizing profit – an agenda balanced on the backs of workers.”

With a powerful strike mandate in hand, the union remains hopeful that a willing partner can be found at the bargaining table to reach a deal that supports educators training Ontario’s future workers.

“If we want to see our colleges restored to institutions of excellence, we need to put our trust in people with skin in the game,” said JP Hornick, President of OPSEU/SEFPO. “That means following the lead of frontline faculty across our college campuses who work with students directly.”

“The CEC still has the opportunity to constructively engage with faculty demands, which are reasonable and fair,” added Hornick. “Today’s results reflect the power we’ve built. Members are prepared to tap that well and demonstrate the strength of our solidarity, if needed, to set the table for a fair deal.”