OPSEU/SEFPO

On Thursday, January 23rd, the College Employer Council (CEC) filed for conciliation, a process either side can initiate through the Ministry of Labour to appoint a third-party conciliation officer to try and help the parties reach a settlement. Once a conciliator is appointed, the parties will book conciliation dates together – which will be communicated to members once secured.

The process of conciliation is most successful when both parties show up in good-faith. For nearly a full calendar year, we have been ready to reach a fair agreement that raises all workers up, with multiple pathways to settlement – but we can’t achieve that on our own. 

To date, the employer has failed to concede on what amounts to the bare minimum, two-tiering access to sick time – leaving Casual, Temporary, and Student Part-Timers behind. Any progress we’ve made at the table – the employer’s so-called “breakthrough provisions” – has emerged from member priorities, reflected in our proposals, and achieved through workers’ persistent campaigning at campuses across Ontario. 

A year into this process, we’re left asking: what has the employer brought to the bargaining table?

For years, the college system has raked in historic profits and record surpluses — now, that money has evaporated in the convenience of a political “crisis,” sunk into capital expenses and administrator salaries. The CEC and college executives cite “stability” as a rationale for refusing to bargain member demands – stability for whom? Prioritizing “stability” would have meant a negotiated settlement in 2024, and not further destabilizing students and workers with program closures and frontline cuts.

Our lives are more important than financial projections or a bottom line. The employer is banking on using the crisis in our colleges as an opportunity to keep us divided and pass off a sub-par, renewal contract that will lock us into the insecurity and instability so many of us face now. 

If we’re going to refuse to settle for scraps, we need to stand together – all 15,000 members strong. There is another path forward, with three main ingredients: the will to fight back, the unity of “us,” and the courage to try.

We need every member to talk to your coworkers and make sure they’ve filled out their membership card! To get involved in the fight, contact caatsptbargainingteam@gmail.com directly. When we remember how to fight, we remember how to win.