Vote Count Result – Durham College
Why did our college vote “yes” in higher numbers than other Ontario colleges?
Results for the vote at all 24 Ontario colleges are now posted, but many may be wondering why different colleges voted different ways and also why our college voted significantly higher in the “yes” category than the provincial average.
Each of the 24 colleges has a unique dynamic. For instance, some colleges are experiencing very painful layoffs. Also, some colleges have extremely high numbers of Partial Load faculty.
Here at Durham College, we have traditionally suffered very few layoffs – this is because of our ever-increasing enrollment, due to our college being situated in an extremely high-growth area.
This growth and lack of layoffs and traditionally low numbers of Partial Load teachers could explain the higher-than-average “yes” vote at our college.
However, this year, student enrollment is flat-lining and the numbers of part time and Partial Load teachers continues to rise. Your Union reps here at Durham will be tracking the numbers of retirements, full-time replacements (if any), and growth of contract teacher numbers over the next three years under our new collective agreement.
Unfortunately, tracking is all we can do, because the moratorium on Article 2 grievances will make it impossible for the Union to pressure management to hire new full time faculty. (Article 2 does not allow management to “abuse sessional appointments by failing to fill ongoing positions as soon as possible subject to …operational requirements.” It also requires management to “give preference to the designation of full-time positions as regular rather than partial-load teaching positions.”)
Before the vote, your Union executive warned you about the dangers of a moratorium on Article 2 and specifically our fear that under this moratorium, the college will have no incentive to hire full time faculty but lots of (financial) incentive to hire ever more contract teachers.
At regular intervals, we will share with the membership the information regarding any new full time hires at the college and also the numbers of contract teachers.