Ontario college support staff hit the picket lines

Support staff at Ontario’s publicly funded colleges are on strike, as they failed to reach a new contract agreement before the deadline of midnight.

The 10,000 full-time college support staff, represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), are seeking better wages, benefits, and job security, and were in a legal strike position as of 12:01 a.m.

“A complete ban on campus closures, college mergers and staff reductions could force colleges into bankruptcy,” said CEC’s CEO Graham Lloyd. “CEC has repeatedly advised OPSEU that these types of demands simply can never be agreed to. They are more about broader political campaigns than the benefits we have proposed at the table for their members.”

The union, which also represents faculty at Ontario colleges, states that nearly 10,000 college faculty and staff have either been laid off or are projected to lose their jobs amid hundreds of program cancellations and suspensions since last year.

Colleges in Ontario had been increasingly relying on tuition from international students for several years due to low levels of provincial government funding and a years-long tuition freeze, and have been struggling since the federal government enacted a cap on international students.

“The Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security is not a party in labour negotiations,” Ministry of Colleges spokesperson Bianca Giacoboni said. “We are monitoring the situation closely and remain hopeful that all parties reach a fair deal that puts students first.”

The College Employer Council has stated that the union’s demands would expose colleges to more than $900 million in additional costs, although the union disputes this figure.

The employer council says it has offered monetary and benefit increases, enhanced severance packages, better vacation carry-over rights and more.

With files from Lucas Casaletto of The Leader Spirit