Today, we will be bargaining up against a midnight strike deadline. As members throw practice picket lines up on campuses across Ontario, we are heading into a critical period of mobilizing power.
An important bargaining update follows – but first, some quick resources:
Sign up for our Bargaining Town Hall – tonight at 7 p.m. (Zoom)!
Strike pay and benefits FAQ!
Sign up as a Picket Captain!
Update your info on the OPSEU/SEFPO member portal!
State of negotiations
The Union last provided the employer with comprehensive responses and counter-proposals on August 31, 2025. We have been waiting to negotiate since, but the employer waited until 4 p.m. yesterday to meet with us and present their last pass.
Their last package makes minor “movement” which is really a shell game, withdrawing concessions they tabled in the first place – like split shifts, or the letter of understanding seeking to strike a joint committee to investigate the “sustainability” of our benefits plan.”
We have yet to see anything on the table that protects members before they are laid off: including language that would keep our work in-house, keep colleges adequately staffed and open, or keep good jobs in our communities.
Yesterday, your bargaining team worked late into the night to provide the employer with a new pass. Today, the employer waited until 4 p.m. before our midnight strike deadline to inform us that they will not respond to our last proposal – effectively asking us to bargain against ourselves.
Bargaining isn’t over yet: we are ready to fight for a deal until the last possible second.
It’ll be a late night – an official communique on what happens after midnight deadline will go out to members as soon as possible. As of now, we are asking members to be prepared to strike tomorrow.
Fighting back against employer intimidation
As expected, we’ve already seen the employer start to sow division and break apart our power through intimidation tactics. Many Locals have received threatening letters: discouraging our members from respecting legal picket lines, targeting messaging to other divisions expressing solidarity, threatening fines.
We are in a legal strike position and have the right to exercise the right to strike – and have issued a response to explicitly remind the employer, and all colleges.
As our power grows, so will these classic intimidation tactics. The boss is trying to call our bluff.
But for the first bargaining round in history, we are fighting in a college system that is wall to wall union. We have the ability to stand together in a way we never have before – and with what is happening to our colleges, we need to more than ever.
That’s why if we can’t reach a deal by midnight and end up on the picketline, we intend to negotiate a return-to-work protocol that protects all workers from discipline or reprisal. This means not just full-time support staff: but also part-time support staff, and faculty, who choose not to cross our picket lines.
If we don’t stand up or push back, the employer will get away with bullying and fear-mongering. We’re saying enough is enough.
We will be reviewing negotiations and next steps at our Bargaining Town Hall tonight at 7 p.m. – so ensure you register below for the Zoom link!
Sign up for our Bargaining Town Hall – tonight at 7 p.m. (Zoom)
As always, you can read the latest bargaining updates on CollegeSupportFT.org.
Solidarity,
Your College Support Full-Time Bargaining Team:
Christine Kelsey, Chair – Local 416, Algonquin College
Shelley Gartshore, Vice-Chair – Local 124, Lambton College
Veronica Attard – Local 416, Algonquin College
Dan Brisson – Local 672, Collège Boréal
Bob Holder – Local 243, Niagara College
Dana Leaman – Local 241, Mohawk College
Xiaoyan Wang– Local 561, Seneca College
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