Written By: Rhitvik Bhasin
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union and the College Employer Council have signed a Memorandum of Agreement with significant benefit gains according to OPSEU.
The agreement avoids a potential strike that would have left more than 450,000 students at Ontario’s public colleges out in the cold with no classes. Both sides agreed to binding arbitration to settle any outstanding issues.
OPSEU served a five-day strike notice on January 3, 2025, and students along with faculty were left guessing as the winter semester got underway.
“We are pleased to have averted an unnecessary strike at Ontario’s 24 public colleges,” said Graham Lloyd, CEO, of CEC. The CEC has put student care at the forefront of its bargaining strategy. “It was important to us to provide stability to students at the start of their semester,” said the chair of The Management Bargaining team of CEC.
Meanwhile, OPSEU released a statement saying the college strike has been “narrowly Averted”. The union said Ontario Premier Doug Ford is “Gambling away Ontario’s future.” the college faculty are working without a contract since September 30, 2024.
“College students are reduced to walking dollar signs for the same reason that 75% of faculty are precarious, working contract-to-contract,” said JP Hornick, President of OPSEU/SEFPO.
Students have expressed relief and a mixed opinion in response. “I feel relieved! Because if it would have pushed through, it would definitely affect everyone,” said Lester Catarbas, a student at Seneca@York. Not all students shared this opinion, however. A student, who asked to remain anonymous, expressed, “I am cool with the strike happening as the campuses will still be accessible.”
Many faculty members felt the same relief in the outcome. It allows college classes to move forward, uninterrupted, a relief for students, staff, and faculty. As the winter semester wears on, both sides hope the open lines of communication will continue into the future to prevent anything like this from arising.
For now, the focus bounces back into the classrooms as students can get on with uninterrupted studies.
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