Bargaining Updates November 2 2021

Bargaining Update November 2, 2021

Greetings Faculty:

As you may have heard, the College Employer Council bargaining team has chosen to file for conciliation, and filed an unfair labour practice (ULP) complaint alleging bad-faith bargaining with the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

Shortly after, they also issued a press release that states: “Though conciliation has been requested, the CEC remains ready to bargain…”. We are confused by this claim, in light of their decision to escalate earlier the same day.

To review what has happened recently:

The mediator’s report was released last Thursday, October 28.

After we received the mediator’s report, the faculty team invited the CEC to meet on Monday, November 1 to discuss the next steps, once each team had a chance to consult with their principals. We also asked that neither team escalate further until we had a chance to meet.

On Monday morning, the CEC filed for conciliation and filed an unfair labour practice complaint against OPSEU/SEFPO as the bargaining agent.

Conciliation is a process by which a trade union or an employer can ask the Ontario Ministry of Labour for help in resolving their differences so that they can reach a collective agreement. If parties are in negotiations, they must use the government’s conciliation services before they can get into a legal position to engage in a lock-out, imposition, or strike.

If the conciliation officer determines that no collective agreement is achievable through the conciliation process, they inform the Ontario Minister of Labour. The Minister then generally issues a “no board” report, which is a legal precondition for lockout, strike, or the imposition of terms and conditions by the employer.

We have attached a quick overview of how the faculty team has modified our proposals between August and October. This chart clearly demonstrates our significant movement from our original proposals.

With that in mind, the team does look forward to the opportunity to present and discuss revised offers during the conciliation process, once the outstanding legal issues caused by the ULP have been resolved.

We are also planning to hold a province-wide bargaining update meeting for members in the near future, and will send registration information ASAP.

In the meantime, we invite you to read a new message from the Canadian Association of University Teachers, in support of our bargaining efforts and proposals, at: https://www.caut.ca/node/10785

Together, we are stronger.

In solidarity,
JP, Jonathan, Katie, Michelle, Ravi, Rebecca, Shawn

Proposals and Bulletins

Your bargaining team has shared all of their non-monetary proposals including draft contract language. The union’s proposals are rooted in feedback from consultations with faculty and students; existing best practices in our system and in other post-secondary education (PSE) institutions; model language from and discussions with Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) and other PSE leaders; and through review of both the language proposed by the locals this round, along with language that has been tabled previously. It is all backed by research and bolstered by the findings in the updated Report on Education.

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Bargaining Updates November 2 2021

Bargaining Update November 2, 2021

Proposals and Bulletins

Prior Union Proposals

Union Proposal October 19, 2021

Management Proposals

Videos