Memorandum of Agreement, mediation-arbitration, and next steps

Following concerted efforts to see movement at the table on Tuesday, we signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to enter mediation-arbitration with the College Employer Counter (CEC) – in the process, securing improved benefit gains for full-time members and breakthrough benefit gains for partial-load. In addition, we cleared significant concessions from the table. 

Read the full MOA here.
Gains at the table were only made possible through faculty organizing on the ground, across the province. We saw more movement in two days than the past six months combined. 

It was your work, day in and day out, flexing our collective power to exercise a historic strike mandate – with locals hauling strike trailers and portapotties to campuses across Ontario – that successfully compelled the CEC to remove several concessions.

Recognizing that many of you have questions about the details of what took place Tuesday, and the road to our decision to enter mediation-arbitration, we’re breaking down the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and answering member questions:

What is contained in the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)?

The MOA outlines the terms that the parties agreed to during the mediation process. Contained within the document is Mediator Kaplan’s determination of an impasse, with “no likely prospect that the Parties would successfully reach agreement on the terms of a renewal Collective Agreement.” The document enshrines:

– The agreement to enter mediation-arbitration, appointing William Kaplan as mediator/arbitrator, and that this process be completed prior to the end of June 30th, 2025
– The CEC’s withdrawal of proposals related to significant concessions, including: 
– Extending the academic year from 10 months to 12 months;
– Increasing maximum teaching contact hours per week and per year, and max teaching contact days/year, for non-post-secondary (two-tiering);
– Allowing new hires to be scheduled for more than 8 hours of work in a single day (two tiering);
– Allowing for the assignment of additional sections without faculty’s consent if workload hours fall under 35 hours/week;
– Creating new barriers for faculty to access professional development (PD) (e.g. removing guarantee of our five consecutive PD days, and requiring 30 days notice for any consecutive PD days);
– Restricting release time for bargaining, and withholding salary from faculty released for bargaining.

– The enhancement of full-time faculty benefits, effective 60 days from signing of the MOA:
– 75% coverage for vision care plan, increase to $550 every two (2) years (up from $400) for persons over 18 years enrolled in the plan;
– 75% coverage for vision care plan, increase to $550 every one (1) year (up from $400) for persons under 18 years enrolled in the plan;
– 75% coverage for hearing care plan, increase to $3500 every three (3) years (up from $3000).

– The extension of partial employer-paid coverage to partial-load employees for benefits (vision care, hearing care and dental), effective May 1, 2025:
–  25% employer-paid coverage for vision care plan;
– 25% employer-paid coverage for hearing care plan;
– 25% employer-paid coverage for dental plan.

– Appendix A, containing items agreed to be the parties in bargaining prior to mediation (see page 6 of MOA);
– The union’s withdrawal of notice of labour action, and agreement that labour action will not take place this round;
– The withdrawal of our unfair labour practice application;
– The agreement that all proposals withdrawn prior to mediation beginning (December 6, 2024) remain withdrawn.

What happens next?
Dialogue will continue in mediation-arbitration under the facilitation of Arbitrator William Kaplan as we continue to work towards a final settlement. Any outstanding items that cannot be resolved in mediation may be ruled on by Kaplan, transitioning the process to binding arbitration.

Why mediation-arbitration?
While we didn’t hit the picket line this round, we still exercised our right to strike and historic mandate as leverage. Without significant improvement to our position, binding arbitration would have remained too risky an option with so many concessions still on the table that could find their way into a final contract. 

Following movement at the table, the faculty bargaining team weighed all the risks and benefits to entering mediation-arbitration. While the details of mediation fall under the confidentiality agreed to by the parties, we hold a reasonable degree of confidence that the path chosen prepares a fair and favourable landscape for faculty in mediation-arbitration to get the best possible deal for 15,000 faculty across Ontario.

How long will it take before we have a new contract in hand?
The team is in the process of securing further mediation dates with Arbitrator Kaplan; the MOA terms outline that mediation-arbitration must be completed before June 30th, 2025. A final ruling is not expected before the end of the summer. Until then, the terms and conditions of our previous agreement remain in place, with the exception of benefits improvements mentioned above.

Fighting together on the road ahead

As we draw closer towards our next contract, we must not lose sight of the reality that the bargaining table is just one front in the fight to protect our colleges.

Workers exercise power through bargaining, but we build it through the connections we nurture every day in our classrooms, hallways, and our communities through the growing solidarity with our colleagues, the students we support, and other workers. 

It has been a hard few months – the economic anxiety of cuts unfolding at our colleges, let alone the affordability crisis in our communities, are material causes of uncertainty for many.

The CEC and the Colleges see this crisis as an opportunity to penny-pinch, to justify their refusal to invest, to deny workers contract improvements and better wages, and to threaten austerity when we are the ones that generate value for the colleges, bringing students’ learning to life.

Every crisis is also an opportunity for workers – to forge solidarity, and build collective power. And we are not done fighting for a better college system and quality education. 

In December, OPSEU/SEFPO communicated the skeleton of a better plan – one which allows colleges to live up to their legislated mandate to meet the needs of students, local employers and the communities they serve. 

In the prelude to a provincial election that’s only drawing closer, we are preparing to launch a policy paper that takes a deep dive into the data with respect to the international student cap, and breaks new ground with practical solutions.

Most importantly, we are ready to go after the bad actors at the top that have set up our college system like a house of cards. Already in 2021, the auditor general was reporting that Ontario had not developed a strategic plan for the sector to mitigate the potential fall out of colleges’ growing dependence on revenue from international student tuition fees.

Change is inevitable – but it doesn’t happen overnight, and it won’t happen under Ford and his risky college schemes.

Ontarians are waking up to the reality that we need a new blueprint for post-secondary education, in no small part because of faculty taking our fight to the eleventh hour. 

These next weeks, months, and years are a runway to finish building what we’ve started. A better college system is possible: we get to decide what it looks like, and what we are willing to do to realize it. 

Solidarity,

Your CAAT-A bargaining team:
Ravi Ramkissoonsingh, Local 242, Chair (he/him)
Michelle Arbour, Local 125, Acting Chair (she/her)
Chad Croteau, Local 110 (he/him)
Bob Delaney, Local 237 (he/him)
Martin Lee, Local 415 (he/him)
Sean Lougheed, Local 657 (he/him)
Rebecca Ward, Local 732 (she/her)

Settlement offer averts province-wide strike, remaining issues headed to mediated arbitration

Jan. 8, 2025 – This is not the post we had expected to send today, but we are very happy for that and grateful for the hard work of the CAAT-A Bargaining Team in finding a path to avert a strike that could have started as early as midnight tonight. Their task is often a thankless one, but incredibly important to preserving and improving our working conditions, and the learning conditions of our students.

You can also thank yourselves for the strong strike mandate given to the team this year, as well as the behind-the-scenes work of the 24 locals who have been preparing strike manuals, meeting with management over picketing protocols and organizing trailers, portable toilets and other strike necessities. We’re told the CEC was surprised and ultimately motivated by the solidarity and urgent work that was taking place.

I’d also personally like to thank our own local executive committee and our administrative assistant Darlene Gill for the countless hours spent meeting and planning to prepare for all eventualities. That work and experience was not in vain and will come in handy next time around.
 

What happens next?

We are expecting more details to come from the bargaining team eventually, but in the meantime, here is what we learned in brief late last night after the memorandum of settlement was signed by our team and the College Employer Council (CEC).

A great many of the 30 plus concessions were negotiated away in the final hours of bargaining, including some that impacted the academic calendar/vacation and two-tiering of trades and academic upgrading. Wins already secured include improved benefits for partial load employees. Other remaining concessions and union proposals will be decided at mediated arbitration. Wages, contract length, hours for asynchronous classes and the introduction of accreditation and credential language to lay-off provisions are still to be negotiated.

The outstanding issues will be decided through mediated arbitration wth arbitrator William Kaplan again, who is very knowledgeable of our sector and was the arbitrator of our last settlement as well. Three days will be scheduled for the arbitration and a new agreement should be signed before the end of June.

Contrary to what the CEC is saying, the coming talks are NOT the binding arbitration they had been seeking this time around. The binding interest arbitration route would have forced Kaplan to choose one side or the other in a take it or leave it scenario for all remaining proposals and concessions, meaning any concessions left on the table for arbitration could have been drafted into our next contract unchanged. Mediated arbitration is an approach where Kaplan will listen to each side, encourage compromise and ultimately decide how each proposal or concession will be included or excluded. 

Kaplan has told both sides already that he does not view this round of bargaining as a time for concessions, nor a year for breakthrough advances for our side. Instead, we can probably expect modest gains and the elimination of the most egregious concessions. Given all that is happening in the college sector at the moment, this is a good victory earned without the sacrifice of a strike.

In solidarity,

Phil Raby
President, Local 354

Keep in touch!

Website: https://opseu354.ca

Twitter/X: https://x.com/354Local

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Local354OPSEU

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/opseulocal354/

Stop distracting, start bargaining: we’re ready to make progress

On Friday, College Faculty voted to authorize strike action, if necessary, to reach a fair agreement. Through a historic turnout – 76.1% – 79% of voters delivered a strong mandate determined by a true majority of all members.

During talks, it was OPSEU/SEFPO that initially raised the prospect of a limited pause on any escalation by both parties following the strike vote, so that we could continue discussions in conciliation, and ensure that negotiations could continue without risk to student’s semesters. We even agreed to mediation (not binding interest arbitration) as a potential solution to help both sides move closer on key issues. 

Disappointingly, but not surprisingly, the CEC has mischaracterized these recent events, breaking confidentiality, and announcing an offer of interest arbitration following the democratic decision of faculty members to deliver a strong strike mandate. They are pushing dangerous concessions, and they know that moving to binding interest arbitration at this point would be the easiest way to achieve their agenda – including the loss of asynchronous teaching hours, dramatic cuts to assigned evaluation and preparation hours, new probationary language for partial-load faculty, and dramatic changes to the academic year.

Accepting binding interest arbitration would give up our right to strike and sacrifice our ability to stand behind faculty proposals through member-driven bargaining. 

As said in 2021 by Graham Lloyd, CEO of the CEC, “In a labour relations context, the parties have the fundamental obligation to bargain. Delegating that obligation to an arbitrator abdicates our shared responsibility.”

The CEC’s announcement is a knee jerk reaction to college faculty making history with the biggest show of collective power to date. With the CEC on their backfoot, they hope we will all blink. However, our focus is clear: bargaining for a fair, negotiated settlement that does not sacrifice hard-fought rights, and which achieves real gains to our wages and working conditions.

No more concessions: we need material improvements

College faculty don’t want to strike. We need a fair agreement that makes headway on workload language that has collected dust for 40 years. We need contract improvements that curb precarity and allow members to keep up in an affordability crisis. We want a willing party on the other side of the table, prepared to bargain fairly. 

In no uncertain terms, a strike mandate sends the strongest possible message: drop your concessions and bargain our proposals fairly at the table. Under the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act (CCBA), a strike mandate is also members’ only legal protection should the CEC seek to impose terms and conditions. 

We urge the College Employer Council (CEC) to listen to the teachers, librarians, and counsellors who bring students’ educational experience to life. 

Members know that we cannot give up hard-fought rights by accepting concession language. Our rights today were bargained by yesterday’s members, and they are not ours to give away. They belong not just to us, but the generations of workers that will come after.

We will not sacrifice student learning conditions – shaped through our working conditions – by accepting concessions which risk increased employment instability, encroachment on vacation, real time cuts to wages, reduced time for teaching, and further increases to workload.

Why avoid binding interest arbitration now?

Not only would binding interest arbitration give up our right to strike and bargain, but it also risks cementing the CEC’s serious concessions into contract language through an external legal decision. 

The CEC was quick to quote OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick speaking about accepting binding interest arbitration in 2022 – when circumstances were vastly different. 

In 2021-2022, Bill 124 prevented free and fair collective bargaining by sharply constraining wage increases. This view was subsequently validated by the Superior Court of Justice, and later upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal. We were also in the midst of a global pandemic, struggling to respond to various challenges and crises raised by COVID-19. 

Given the barriers to bargaining freely, members looked at alternative solutions – like taking outstanding issues to binding interest arbitration. 

But, according to OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick, there should be no barriers to bargaining a renewal collective agreement in 2024, with a focus on implementing recommendations from the Workload Task Force – mandated at the end of the last round to inform bargaining now. 

“With an accumulated surplus of $1 billion over the last year alone, the Colleges have the resources to fulfill their core mandate: training Ontario’s future workforce through teaching, learning, and student support,” said Hornick. “There’s enough money to prioritize quality education, while responsibly navigating any uncertainty. Faculty and students will continue to stand strong and demand it.” 

While things are different today than in 2021-2022, one thing remains the same: the CEC is favouring distractions over their duty to bargain with the clear, collective voice of members standing together.

No more shortchanging student and faculty futures

The CEC’s latest communication is a reckless attempt to provoke a response from the bargaining team. In addition to breaking confidentiality and mischaracterizing bargaining, the CEC continues to promote grossly inflated and unsubstantiated costing of faculty proposals. It’s a tired tactic. We’ve asked for the breakdown (in person and via email) regarding their costing of our proposals to which Lloyd himself declined outright at the bargaining table on October 8. They continue to publish this figure without substantiation. However, this does suggest that the CEC understands that the system is being supported by free labour that has gone unrecognized since workload formulas were last updated in 1985.

In the proud shadow of Friday’s historic strike mandate – a crucial step closer towards a fair, negotiated settlement – we encourage members and students alike to continue discussing the important issues defining this bargaining round because our working conditions and students’ learning conditions are tied at the hip.

We are stronger together, and we will get the contract we stand for.

In solidarity,

Your CAAT-A Bargaining Team

Click on the title page below for a slideshow of the Partial Load proposals and concessions

Click on the title page below for a slideshow of the Full-time Workload proposals and concessions

Important strike mandate vote info

A strike vote will be held the week of October 15, 2024 for college faculty members represented by OPSEU/SEFPO starting October 15, 2024.   

The union has no choice but to seek a strike mandate should job action become necessary.   The collective agreement for college faculty expires on September 30, 2024. Therefore, OPSEU/SEFPO asked the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) to schedule the online strike vote.

The strike vote will be held over the course of 3 days, October 15th at 12 pm until the 17th at 3pm.  The secret ballot vote will be conducted virtually.  You will receive a PIN code and voting instructions from the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) closer to the vote.  You will need only to log onto a website, enter your code and cast your ballot anytime between October 15th at 9am and October 17th before 3pm.  The voting process is easy and confidential. 

Frequently Asked Questions – Strike Vote

1. When will the strike vote take place? How will I cast my ballot?

The vote will take place from 12 noon on October 15 to 3 p.m. on October 17, 2024. Members can vote anytime during that period. It will be online or by phone through the Simply Voting electronic voting platform. Each eligible voter will be given a unique elector ID number and password  PIN to cast their ballot. 

2. Who is eligible to vote?

All full-time and partial-load professors and instructors and all full-time librarians and counsellors are eligible to vote and should receive a communication directly from the OLRB with their PIN and voting instructions.

This includes:

  • members actively employed at the college
  • members on recall or who have a grievance outstanding
  • members on approved leave, as enshrined in the collective agreement or in law (disability leave, pregnancy/parental leave)

3. I am a College Faculty member, how do I verify that I will be able to cast a ballot in the strike vote?

OPSEU has been working with the College Faculty local presidents at each college to ensure that each member eligible to cast a ballot is on the voter list.

4. What should I do if I am eligible to vote and don’t receive a communication from the OLRB?

You can contact the OLRB Voting Help Desk by telephone at 416-326-7432 (English), 416-326-0313 (French). When you contact them, you can indicate that you are calling about the strike vote in OLRB case number 1526-24-VO. They can assist you in being added to the voters list.

5. Does voting yes mean that we are going on strike? 

A strong strike vote doesn’t mean that we are automatically going on strike. It shows that we’re reading and willing to strike if we need to. Strike action can range from work-to-rule to a full withdrawal of services. A strong strike vote gives our bargaining team more power and leverage to achieve a fair collective agreement and enables us to respond to employer threats such as making unilateral changes to the collective agreement.  Under the CCBA, both parties are required to provide five (5) days’ notice before commencing a labour action (including a lockout or strike.)

6. Is my ballot confidential?

Yes, your ballot is confidential, and the vote is supervised by the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

7. Does the bargaining team recommend that I vote to authorize the team to call a strike?

Yes, the team unanimously recommends that all members vote yes to authorize the team to call a strike, if necessary.

8. What will the strike ballot say? What choices will be given?

The strike vote ballot will give each eligible voter the option, in French and English, to choose either <“I authorize the bargaining team to call a strike, if necessary> or <”I do not authorize the bargaining team to call a strike, if necessary”>.

9. What involvement do OPSEU and the CEC have in the strike vote?

OPSEU requested that the vote be held. The CEC provided a list of voters obtained from the Colleges to OPSEU for validation. The list was then provided to the OLRB. The OLRB alone conducts the vote and OPSEU and the CEC have no involvement in that process.

10. How will the outcome of the strike vote be determined?

In order to engage in a strike or other labour action such as work-to-rule, OPSEU must obtain 50% plus 1 vote support from among the ballots cast in the strike vote. The majority of votes cast will determine the outcome.

11. If I have a problem casting my ballot, whom would I call for help?

You can contact the OLRB Voting Help Desk by telephone at 416-326-7432 (English), 416-326-0313 (French). When you contact them, you can indicate that you are calling about the strike vote in OLRB case number 1526-24-VO. They can assist you with any problems casting your ballot. Help Desk Hours: October 15 – 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, October 16 – 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, October 17 – 9:30 am to 11:00 am

12. If I work at multiple colleges and I get multiple PINs, can I vote multiple times?

No, you are only allowed to vote once as a member of the bargaining unit. The OLRB will find your vote with the email address you used and will count that one vote as official. If you vote multiples times using multiple PINs, that will be considered a spoiled ballot and will not be counted.

13. Will anyone know how I voted?

No. The vote is entirely by secret ballot and you will not be personally associated with the vote that you cast.

14. Will I be subject to disciplined or dismissed for how I vote?

No. The vote is entirely by secret ballot and you will not be personally associated with the vote that you cast.

15. When will the results of the vote be released?

Strike vote results will be communicated in a bulletin to members and will be posted to the OPSEU/SEFPO website once publicly available. 

Local 354 virtual bargaining/strike mandate info sessions happening Wed. Sept. 25

As you may have heard, bargaining has been proceeding slowly and your CAAT-A bargaining team has asked for a provincial conciliator to step in and stop the stalling from the CEC. You may have also read that this move will also trigger a strike mandate vote, which is expected in mid October. This is a critical time in negotiations and we want to make sure you have all the information needed to make an informed choice when that vote is called.

To that end, we are organizing two virtual drop-in chats on Wednesday, Sept. 25th, to discuss the latest bargaining news and why a strong strike mandate is so important. Please take time to join us virtually on the 25th between either 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. or 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Feel free to come with any and all questions you may have.

Below are the links for each meeting. There is no formal agenda for the meetings, so feel free to drop in whenever you can.
Wednesday, Sept. 25th:
11 a.m. – 1 p.m. drop-in: https://meet.google.com/ogs-skoi-noh
6 p.m. – 8 p.m. drop-in: https://meet.google.com/arf-uwmd-rad

Fall General Membership Meeting Thursday Oct. 3 @ 6:30 p.m.

Please plan to also join us online Thursday, Oct. 3 at 6:30 p.m. for our fall general membership meeting (GMM). This will be another chance to get the very latest bargaining news, as well as to stay on top of all the other issues facing us this year. We also want to hear from you about any concerns you might have with workload, safety, enrolment or anything else. We can only act on the issues we know about, so your feedback is critically important to the work we do on your behalf.

To register for the Oct. 3rd GMM and to receive a video link and full agenda, please RSVP to office@opseu354.ca

Province-wide town hall on Workload Task Force report Sept. 12 @ 5:30 p.m.

Feeling tired or overwhelmed with work? There may be a very good reason for that. Find out the details this Thursday, Sept. 12 at 5:30 p.m. for the provincial town hall on the results of the Workload Task Force Report. Use the link below to register for the virtual meeting on Zoom. https://opseu-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VefjSLplRZ2HmWa8iFEGwQ#/registration

Show your support for bargaining and the work we do

Please download and use CAAT-A college bargaining graphics. Link below includes graphics for your social feeds, video chat background and headers and footers for your correspondence.

https://opseu.org/information/tools-and-resources/college-faculty-caat-a-2024-graphics/241810

Report of the Workload Taskforce Released

Taskforce Report Final English (issued)-1Download