OPSEU/SEFPO

Hoping for a contract before the holidays, your College Support Part-Time Bargaining Team was back at the table on December 18th. To our surprise, rather than taking steps forward to end the year with some measure of stability for workers, the College Employer Council (CEC) took a giant leap backwards.

At a time when we are feeling the squeeze at the grocery store and the gas pump, the employer is attempting to penny-pinch and two-tier their offer to exclude the vast majority of members. We’re fighting for all Part-Time support staff – but the CEC seems only willing to provide Regular Part-Timers with sub-par improvements, hanging Casual, Temporary, and Student employees out to dry.

It’s time to fight for our fair share. Join us on Zoom at 7:00 p.m. on December 23rd, 2024 for an Emergency Town Hall to discuss the state of bargaining and next steps for our bargaining unit:

Register here for December 23 Town Hall!

Bargaining is a two-way street

After nearly a year at the table, our side streamlined our proposals and moved off several demands in the interest of demonstrating progress and securing a better contract, and financial relief, for members now.

In the spirit of productive negotiations, we prepared an updated proposal blending key monetary and non-monetary priorities aimed at improving our working lives and security, including:

• Paid sick days – all employees who have worked 20 shifts are entitled to 5 paid sick days per calendar years, renewing every January 1st (without accumulation of unused days);
• Cancelled shifts – any Part-Time member whose shift is cancelled with less than 24-hours’ notice or who is sent home for reasons beyond their control will not lose their pay;
• Wages – 6% annual wage increases for 2024 & 2025, and ensuring no member is left making minimum wage;
• Benefits – RPT, Casual, and Temporary members to receive an amount equal to 2% of regular hourly rate in lieu of benefits;
• Vacation pay – 0-8 years of service at 6%, 9-14 years of service at 8%, 15+ years of service at 10% (effective February 2025);
• Bereavement leave – inclusion of non-biological kin and chosen family;
• Religious/cultural leave – leave without loss of pay for sincerely held religious/cultural beliefs and practices;
• Stronger sexual harassment protections – removing 15-day timeline to file a grievance for Part-Timers who have experienced workplace sexual harassment;
• Written summaries (job descriptions) – within 10 days of receipt of a member’s request, College to provide at least a written summary of job duties;
• Applicant feedback – current Part-Timer who interviews for an internal job and is deemed unsuccessful may request feedback within 15 days of notice, to be provided within 30 days of position being filled;
• Full-time consideration – regular Part-Timers to be considered internal candidates for full-time jobs;
• Transfer into bargaining unit – college workers who are transferred into the Part-Time bargaining unit will receive full seniority based on continuous service at the College.

After a province-wide campaign calling for paid sick days, the employer has only conceded to 2 paid sick days for Regular Part-Time support staff only, excluding the vast majority of our bargaining unit. We have gone nearly 12 calendar months without a pay increase – now, the CEC is tabling a non-retroactive increase of only 2% a year that will do nothing to help workers catch up with the cost of living.

We owe each other real relief

The reality is that the College Employer Council (CEC), along with college executives, have failed in their stewardship of the college system through an entirely manufactured crisis. While the Ford government opened the floodgates to public-private partnerships and international recruitment amidst a worsening provincial funding crisis, the Colleges went along with their mismanagement.

Neglecting their duty to advocate for core funding needed to stabilize the system, Colleges embraced the overreliance on price-gouged international tuition – in the end, exploiting students and an increasingly precarious workforce while accumulating historic surpluses.

Now that the system is crumbling from bad decisions at the top, we’re expected to foot the bill. Yet even while the college system raked in record profits, workers never saw the trickle-down record contracts. Whose pockets did the $1 billion accumulated system-wide surplus go to last year – because it wasn’t ours.

On the employer’s clock, there’s never a good enough time for workers to stand up. As your colleagues, we’re saying “if not now, when.”

Join us Monday – let’s talk about what it takes to win.