Come to Local 240’s General Membership Meeting

Thursday, November 9 at 4:30pm

OPSEU Region 2 Office, 505 York Blvd., 2nd Floor

[Between Devonport St. and Strathcona Ave.]

The purpose of the meeting is to update members on bargaining and our strategy, going forward.

Bargaining: How did we get to where we are?

On Monday, Management walked away from the table when we were very close to an agreement. As a result of negotiations, we had an agreement which was essentially status quo, except for changes both sides had already agreed upon. Management had agreed to remove some of the concessions that had been stumbling blocks to an agreement in previous bargaining sessions.

In fact, the only remaining issue to be resolved was around academic freedom. Our Bargaining Team had prepared a proposal to address the issue, but when they sat down to talk, Management dropped a bombshell by producing a final offer, which included all the concessions they had agreed to withdraw. Then, they walked away from the table.

The result?

  • Our team remains at the table, ready to finish the bargaining process. We are mere hours away from a deal that, until this morning, was acceptable to both parties.
  • Because the Colleges’ reneged on a proposal that they had already agreed to, we are now faced with a toxic ‘offer’ on which we are now forced to vote. This vote will take between 5-10 days for the OLRB to prepare, implement and count.
  • Our students’ semester is now in serious jeopardy, the result of the Colleges’ unethical behaviour at the table. They are showing a complete disregard for students with their ‘scorched earth’ bargaining strategy.

Adding insult to injury

The Colleges are telling students, the public, and the media that it is the Union’s intransigence that caused the breakdown in negotiations. They are even saying we walked away from the table. Finally, they conclude that, should students lose their semester, it is our fault. These bald-faced lies are shameful, even by their standards.

But wait! Management has a solution to save the semester. All we have to do is come back to work, while we wait for faculty to vote on their ‘generous’ offer. Seriously, they want you to return to work with no Collective Agreement to protect you and no workload provisions, as you would have with a SWF. You’ll simply do as you’re told.

We didn’t make the sacrifices of the last three weeks, only to come back to work with nothing to show for that sacrifice. No, returning to work, cap in hand is not the answer.

The solution?

The Colleges say if we don’t go back to work before voting on their insulting offer, we will be responsible for the students’ lost semester. This is another lie. If they’re so concerned about the students, we can guarantee the semester will be saved if they return to the table and finish bargaining the agreement we were so close to completing. Bargaining at the table is a win-win-win solution for students, faculty and the college system.

Please make a point of attending the GMM on Thursday, where you will learn more details of both the Colleges’ and the Union’s proposals. We know you’ll have questions, so this will be an excellent opportunity to have those questions answered.

Our cause is just. Our resolve is unshakable.

Stay strong. Stay united.