The Strike At 24 Ontario Colleges Has Officially Been Called Off & Here's Why
Classes will carry on as normal.
The impending strike of 16,000 Ontario college faulty has been called off, and classes will stay as scheduled at all 24 colleges across the province.
On March 18, the College Employer Council stated that they had virtually met at the bargaining table with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union with a mediator appointed by the Ministry of Labour.
After engaging in a 12-hour discussion, both parties agreed to enter the binding interest arbitration, which was first offered up by the OPSEU.
"The CEC and OPSEU/SEFPO have reached an agreement to enter binding interest arbitration and the strike that was scheduled to commence at 12:01am on March 18, 2022, is called off. This also includes all work-to-rule strike activities," they said in a joint statement in the press release.
The OPSEU's college faculty and the CEC have not been able to make a collective agreement for the past few months, with 62% of faculty members who voted in contract negotiations having rejected an offer made by the CEC back in February.
"A strike is always the option of last resort," said OPSEU Vice-President/Treasurer Eduardo Almeida in a release on March 17.
"As long as the parties are talking, there’s hope an agreement can be reached at the bargaining table."
Now that the strike has been called off, college students can carry on with their schooling without a hitch.
"We are pleased to announce the CEC and OPSEU/SEFPO have reached an agreement to enter binding interest arbitration and the strike that was scheduled to commence at 12:01am on March 18, 2022, is called off. This also includes all work-to-rule strike activities. As a result, all classes and campus operations will proceed as scheduled for Friday, March 18, 2022," Centennial College said in an Instagram post.
"After all that students, faculty and the College community have been through over the past two years, we felt it was essential that we put our differences aside and conclude these negotiations without a strike," said Graham Lloyd, CEO of the CEC, in their announcement today.