TORONTO — The province's colleges are asking the Ontario Labour Relations Board to hold a vote among academic staff on the colleges' most recent contract offer.
The College Employer Council, which represents Confederation College and 23 other schools, started bargaining with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union last July.
Mediation and conciliation both failed.
Last month 59 per cent of the professors, instructors, counsellors and librarians who belong to the bargaining unit approved a strike mandate.
In announcing the request for a forced vote, Laurie Rancourt – chair of the college bargaining team – said "It has become clear that the union will not moderate their demands regardless of the advice they are given or the fact the college sector continues to navigate a global pandemic."
Rancourt also urged OPSEU "to keep their promise to put students' needs first by not escalating the labour dispute. We ask that they allow college faculty to continue working until the results of the employer vote come in, especially given the modest 59 per cent strike mandate result."
She said college management is asking academic staff to look at the offer and recognize that it "reasonably" addresses the areas of concern their bargaining team has put forward.
According to Rancourt, this includes mechanisms for joint investigation and collaboration to improve conditions in key areas.
But OPSEU's leadership is already advising the members to reject the offer.
President Warren (Smokey) Thomas said in a statement Tuesday that "ramming through a forced agreement won't be helpful to labour relations...and it certainly won't improve the quality of education."
Thomas insisted that it's still possible to reach a deal at the bargaining table.
OPSEU accuses the college negotiating team of walking away from the table to impose terms and conditions on faculty as of last month.
The union's bargaining chair, JP Hornick. said the colleges have shown complete disregard for the bargaining process by bypassing it.
Hornick also said the current offer is virtually identical to the one that's already been rejected.
"It wasn't good enough for faculty or our students then, and it still isn't good enough now, which is why we're urging all faculty to reject the forced offer deal," she said.
Ontario labour law allows an employer to request a forced vote only once.
OPSEU has said it remains open to voluntary binding interest arbitration.
