For nearly five weeks, we have walked the line for a contract that meets the moment.
After months of intensive negotiations with an incredibly difficult employer, the gains made in this agreement would not have been possible without members holding strong these last weeks.
Key highlights of the three-year tentative agreement include:
- Benefits and wage increases;
- An across-the-board increase of $1.05/hr for all workers in year 1;
- Enhanced job protections against technological changes;
- Language we can build on around defining bargaining unit work;
- Stronger contracting out provisions and re-skilling language;
- Extended recall rights and enhanced severance;
- Increase to on-call rates for the first time since 2005;
- Increase to shift premiums for the first time since 2008;
- Inclusion of chosen family for bereavement leave.
Picket lines will come down starting tomorrow. Members will return to work starting this Thursday, October 16.
We will hold an All Member Town Hall tomorrow, Wednesday October 15, at 3 p.m. to go over the details of the agreement, as well as the return-to-work protocol:
Register for Zoom link!
The next step is for you, the members, to review and vote on whether to accept this tentative agreement. Details of the ratification vote will be communicated as soon as it is scheduled by the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB).
Our fight doesn’t end here
We’ve won more than a contract. We are more organized than we have ever been as a division, having built new relationships with each other across the province.
We’ve been out in our communities, telling our story and building broad support. The public now understands that our colleges are being systemically dismantled to pave the way for privatization, a page from the same playbook underwriting every attack on public services.
We all should be incredibly proud of each other for putting up an exceptional fight. But we also have to acknowledge that this deal isn’t enough.
What we were able to win this round has been shaped from the outset by years of defunding and deregulation under Ford. Even then, we were able to achieve significant wins.
We need to build on our momentum and fight for a viable future for public colleges.
It is not a fight any one division can win alone – it will take all 50,000 of us across the sector, alongside our communities, and with every ally we can bring along.
As your bargaining team, we promise that we will not back down from that fight.
In 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