Classes have been cancelled for more than 500,000 students after faculty at 24 Ontario colleges went on strike late Sunday night.The Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents 12,000 college professors, instructors, counsellors and librarians, and the group representing management failed to reach an agreement late Sunday night after the union presented its final offer to the College Employer Council in a bid to avert a strike before the 12:01 a.m. deadline. “On Oct. 14, we presented Council with a streamlined offer that represented what faculty consider to be the bare minimum we need to ensure quality education for students and treat contract faculty fairly,” said J.P. Hornick, chair of the union bargaining team in a statement. “We carefully crafted a proposal that responded to Council’s concerns about costs in a fair and reasonable way.”OPSEU made three critical proposals in the offer: 50:50 ratio in the number of full-time faculty to the number of faculty members on contract; increased job security for part-time faculty, and academic freedom to give faculty a stronger voice in academic decision-making.“Unfortunately, council refused to agree on even the no-cost items, such as longer contracts for contract faculty and academic freedom,” Hornick said. “This leaves us with no choice but to withdraw our services until such time as our employer is ready to negotiate seriously.”Employer council spokesperson Sonia Del Missier said the strike is completely unnecessary.She said management was offering terms that were as good or better than recent settlements with teachers, college support staff, hospital professionals, and Ontario public servants.The College Employer Council had complained last week that union demands for staffing ratios and wage increases would add more than $1 billion in costs over three years.Students are advised to check their college’s website to find out how they are affect ...
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