Ontario's public college faculty, represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), issued a five-day labour action notice on Jan. 3, putting them in a strike position on Jan. 9 if no agreement is reached.
A strike would disrupt operations at Ontario’s 24 public colleges, impacting students. The winter term is scheduled to begin on Jan. 8, after non-binding mediation meetings on Jan. 6 and 7. OPSEU has advised faculty to keep working until further notice.
The union's notice wasn't clear if a strike would begin on Jan. 9 but issuing that statement to the CEC puts it in a position to launch job actions, which include work-to-rule and a strike. Faculty last went on strike in 2017, a showdown that lasted five weeks.
Central to the dispute are concerns over workload, staffing levels and job stability. The union claims each faculty member contributes about $24,500 of unpaid labour annually. According to the Workload Task Force Report released in September, there has been an increase in unpaid tasks faculty perform outside of work.
“We want to be in our classrooms, labs, libraries, and offices, supporting students,” the union said. “But our work can’t come at the cost of floating the college system on our unpaid labour.”
Negotiations between the union and the CEC have been ongoing since July 2024. The previous collective agreement expired in September 2024.
The union has criticized the CEC and provincial government for failing to adequately fund post-secondary education, relying instead on precarious employment practices and international students.
The union says its decision is forced by ‘’the failed stewardship of college executives, CEOs, and out-of-touch politicians eroding quality education and piloting the college system into the present crisis.’’
The CEC has yet to issue a formal response to the strike notice.
Its most recent statement described OPSEU’s demands as unsustainable in light of declining international student enrolment and rising costs.
The CEC also claims that OPSEU’s proposals would increase total academic costs by over 55 per cent and reduce classroom teaching time to 29 weeks annually, a change it argues would harm students.
“Less teaching time doesn’t improve student success,” the CEC said.
The CEC has expressed its commitment to reach a solution, however, it said, “we cannot accept terms that would jeopardize our students, faculty, and the future of the sector.”
OPSEU argues the current offer is worse than the expired contract and stresses its intention to negotiate productively. It said it is willing to commit to labour action if mediation fails.
“If we cannot reach an agreement in mediation, it is unlikely that a deal that protects faculty futures can be reached without the urgency of labour action,” OPSEU said.
The CEC and OPSEU are also negotiating a contract for the colleges' part-time support staff workers, which began in January 2024.
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