Arbitrator Rules in College Faculty Strike

Wednesday, 20 December 2017 at 11:58

An arbitrator has issued a landmark decision to resolve all matters related to the recent strike of Ontario College Faculty.

WOODSTOCK - An arbitrator has issued a landmark decision to resolve all matters related to the recent strike of Ontario College Faculty.

William Kaplan made his decision this morning that will impact all of the colleges in Ontario, including the Fanshawe Regional Campus in Woodstock.

OPSEU Local 110 Prsident says it is too bad it had to come down to this point.

"From a labour relations perspective, it would have been best to end this with a negotiated agreement. The parties should have been allowed to reach that point on their own, however, we found the College Employer Council to be less committed to negotiating. It shouldn't have taken legislation to bring bargaining and the strike to an end. Nonetheless, a neutral third party has concluded that most of the union's positions should be adopted."

Bedford says going on strike was never their intention.

"Faculty did not set out to go on strike, but we can feel a sense of relief in the resolution. "Our members' overwhelming rejection of the College Employer Council's offer opened the path to this landmark award. Kaplan's decision recognizes that colleges have changed over the last 50 years. It is time to prepare for the next 50 years with better outcomes for students and faculty alike."

Summary of the Kaplan Award

- 4-year contract with wage increases of 1.75% (retroactive to October 1st 2017), 2%, 2%, 2%.

- Academic freedom language incorporated directly into the Collective Agreement.

- Establishes a seniority system for partial-load faculty (who teach 7 to 12 hours per week) through the use of a registry.

- Provincial task force to examine faculty complement, precarious work, provincial funding of the colleges, student mental health, academic governance, and intellectual property rights.

- OPSEU and the College Employer Council to meet in January to consider changes to comply with the recently-passed Bill 148 Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act.