Ontario public college faculty authorize strike mandate: union

The union representing faculty at Ontario's 24 public colleges says its members have delivered a strong strike mandate.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) says 79 per cent of those who participated in the vote supported a strike mandate, with 76 per cent of members casting a ballot.

The union, which represents some 15,000 professors, instructors, librarians and counsellors, says workload and job precarity are among the key issues at the bargaining table.

OPSEU says it remains hopeful a contract can be negotiated with the College Employer Council (CEC).

The council says it has offered to engage in mediation-interest arbitration and that any kind of strike is "unnecessary."

During mediation-interest arbitration, a neutral third party hears submissions and evidence from the union and employer before issuing a final, binding decision, according to the province.

The union's contract expired on Oct. 1, and the parties have since held two days of conciliation talks.

Chantal Mancini, assistant professor of labour studies at Brock University, said the vote shows that union members are united and serious about their demands.

Strike votes are often one of the best ways to avoid a strike, she said.

"It sounds counterintuitive, but it does the job of pressurizing the table so that the other side will move toward an agreement," she said.

Mancini said government underfunding for public services has created challenges for faculty, impacting their workload.

"Union members are expected to do more with less," she said.

Council hoping that faculty 'will put students first': CEO 

Graham Lloyd, CEO of the CEC, said in an interview that the council is hopeful that faculty "will put students first and proceed with interest arbitration."

He said OPSEU rejected the council's first proposal of interest arbitration and has not yet responded to a second.

The union's demands would increase college costs by almost $1 billion annually, according to a CEC news release on Friday.

Lloyd said the cost "is something [the union] knows the colleges can't afford and can't accept."

The council is hoping to avoid a strike, which would cause unnecessary stress and uncertainty for students, he said.

"Right now, the parties are extremely far apart, but we're confident that with the support of a neutral third party, we'd be able to ... reach a negotiated deal," Lloyd said.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the union's bargaining team, Sean Lougheed, said the CEC's claim that union demands would increase annual college costs by $1 billion is unsubstantiated.

Further, he said, the bargaining team had agreed to mediation with the employer but would not consider interest arbitration.

"Accepting binding interest arbitration would sacrifice the members' ability to stand behind their proposals and would increase the likelihood of the CEC's concessions in contract language," Lougheed said. "The CEC should not ignore their duty to bargain with members choosing to stand together."