COLLEGE EMPLOYER COUNCIL
The path forward to end college full-time support staff strike

With no further dates set for negotiations, the College Employer Council (CEC) continues to urge the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) to remove four demands that are preventing a negotiated agreement for full-time support staff at Ontario colleges.

"The most frustrating part for colleges is OPSEU's demands going into bargaining were already impossible," said Graham Lloyd, CEO of CEC. "Then, 11 days into bargaining, right on the eve of mediation/conciliation, two more were added to the list, making it impossible to reach a negotiated resolution."

Lloyd states in an interview, "if OPSEU is going to insist on all these demands, then negotiations will not work, and mediation is the only solution. It's a simple choice for OPSEU, drop these demands or let a mediator/arbitrator decide. This strike will not make the unreasonable demands affordable or reasonable."

Lloyd used an interview with YourTV Sarnia to describe OPSEU's four most unreasonable demands:

1. A guarantee of no campus or college mergers or closures for three years.
2. A guarantee of no staff reductions for any reason for three years.
3. A prohibition on contracting out any services, regardless of circumstance (for example, snow plowing at smaller or satellite campuses).
4. New restrictions on support staff work, prohibiting managers or faculty from doing even simple tasks, such as turning off the lights or checking on water leaks.

In the interview, Lloyd says: "We've urged them on a number of occasions to proceed. There's an easy way to get employees back in the buildings and certainly ensure there be no disruption in students' learning. And that is: they have four demands that we really can't ever agree to. If they can't drop those let's proceed to mediation."

"There are demands that, regardless of the situation, we just can't go forward," Lloyd said. "We've spent almost three months bargaining and we've told them that we will never agree to those. If they insist, then there's no path forward to a negotiated deal. So, if that's the situation, let's at least go to mediation and arbitration to ensure that there's certainty for students and employees."

CEC has acted in good faith throughout bargaining, enhancing its offer to more than $145 million in wages, benefits, and job security improvements.
 

For the full video interview: Why Colleges Can't Afford the Union's Demands - YourTV Sarnia