College support staff prepare for potential strike

A student walks on the Conestoga College campus in Kitchener, Ont., Saturday, April 27, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn

Full time support staff could go on strike at Ontario colleges this Thursday.

A total of 10,000 employees represented by OPSEU are poised to walk off the job at midnight on Sept. 11 if an agreement isn’t reached with the College Employer Council (CEC), the government-mandated bargaining agent that represents 24 Ontario public colleges.

According to CEC, full time support staff includes technicians and technologists, clerks, assistants, analysts, tutors and facilities operators.

Graham Lloyd, CEO of the College Employer Council, said if a strike happens, class cancellations aren’t expected at this point, but there will be other disruptions such as some classes moving online and reduced services.

“Maybe shorter hours at a help desk, shorter tutoring hours, that type of thing,” Lloyd said.

“Where we see significant impact potentially is in the lab work. It will be a challenge for some of the colleges to find alternatives to that lab work. Some of those labs will be pushed out further in the term, assuming that we can get something done and save the term.”

Lloyd noted programs like nursing could be most affected, given the second and third years spend a great deal of time doing lab work.

Both sides are scheduled to return to the bargaining table on Tuesday and Wednesday, so a strike could still be averted.

The CEC said the union is asking for two items that the colleges simply can’t accept: the first, that there be no campus closures or mergers, and the second, that there be no staff reductions for at least three years.

The union posted a notice to members on Saturday.

“There are many bargaining proposals that remain that leave us far from the employer: they are refusing language like no contracting out, limits to job displacement because of AI, preventing managers from doing support staff work, refusing reasonable benefit improvements while tabling letters that signal they will try and cut our benefits plan in the future in the name of “sustainability”, and more,” the post said.

Lloyd said colleges are still navigating decreased enrolment due to the federal government’s international student cap.

“We don’t know where things are headed,” Lloyd said.

Lloyd added that the CEC has offered wage increases and enhanced severance payments.

OPSEU did not respond to CTV’s request for comment by airtime.