The College Faculty Bargaining Team is actively monitoring the potential fallout from the recent federal and provincial restrictions on international student numbers. At the moment, there is no indication that these decisions will have a significant impact on negotiations nor result in any job losses at any of the 24 colleges. As our own college has noted, Durham has one of the lowest percentages of international students provincially, and management has not advised us of any need for cost cutting measures that would affect the membership.
If you do hear rumours of potential impacts or fear mongering at our college or elsewhere, it is important to bear in mind the following:
- The federal announcement is a two-year plan.
- This announcement follows consecutive years of record profits.
- Management hires outpace CAAT-A hiring at most colleges.
- The government’s own ‘Blue Ribbon’ panel stated that salaries are not the problem in the College sector and chronic underfunding remains the root of this issue.
- Because Ontario is the lowest funded province in the country, the panel recommended an immediate 10% injection followed by 3-5 years of 2% increases.
The Local will, of course, continue to monitor the situation at DC and advise you of new information that comes forward.