About 13,000 part-time support staff at Ontario colleges will soon decide whether they’re willing to walk off the job, potentially joining thousands of their colleagues who are already on strike.
Next week, part-time support staff at the province’s 24 colleges, including Cambrian College and Collège Boréal in Sudbury, will participate in a strike vote organized by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU).
About half of the unionized part-time support workers are students, including employees who work in financial aid offices, college gyms and the registrar’s office.
Noor Askandar, the union’s bargaining team chair, said OPSEU has called the strike vote because the College Employer Council (CEC), which represents provincial colleges, has refused to come to the bargaining table since May. She said the CEC has not provided an updated offer since December 2024.
Workers have been without a collective agreement for more than a year and a half. Pay and paid sick days are two key issues in the dispute.
Should more than 50 per cent of part-time support staff vote ‘yes,’ the union could be in a legal strike position.
CEO of the CEC Graham Lloyd said he disputes the allegations made by OPSEU.
“CEC is committed to bargaining in good faith to reach a renewal collective agreement with the college part-time support staff,” he said in an emailed statement.
Is the CEC delaying to avoid a simultaneous strike?
Askandar said she believes the CEC is delaying negotiations with the union in order to avoid simultaneous strikes between full and part-time support staff at provincial colleges.
On Sept. 9, some 10,000 full-time college support staff walked off the job and currently remain on strike.
Last fall, the CEC requested mediation for part-time support staff, aiming to conclude negotiations. However, Askandar said the bargaining team did not want to participate because they felt it was a “cop-out” and that the CEC had not engaged in earnest with prior union proposals.
In May, the two parties worked for one day with a mediator to try to resolve the dispute, but this was unsuccessful. Subsequently, Askandar said the union provided the CEC with 23 dates for bargaining between July and October.
She said the CEC turned all of them down, claiming they were unavailable and provided only one date in December.
Lloyd disputed this and said the CEC provided dates in June, which the union rejected.
Were both part and full-time college support staff to strike at the same time, Askandar said there would be a “massive impact” on provincial colleges, particularly in departments like the registrar’s office and recreation programs, where such workers play key roles.
She said the union does not want to strike, as many of its members are precarious workers, but said OPSEU will hold a vote in an attempt to pressure the CEC back to the bargaining table.
Staff deserve more than minimum wage, union says
Askandar said pay has been one of the biggest sticking points in the negotiation with the CEC.
Across the province, she said many student workers are paid minimum wage, making life very difficult given the high cost of living.
Toni Pettit, a union steward and full-time student at Seneca Polytechnic, works part-time at the college and said she makes $18.94 per hour in her role supporting the school’s Black students’ organization.
While Pettit said she enjoys the work, she told TorontoToday the pay is so low she rarely eats out and frequently asks friends for rides to avoid having to pay for transit.
In its latest proposal, the union asked that every employee be paid a minimum of $1 over minimum wage, beginning in February 2025. This month, Ontario’s minimum wage was boosted to $17.60 per hour.
OPSEU has also asked for a six per cent pay increase for each year of the new collective agreement.
According to the union, the CEC has countered with proposed two per cent wage increases for each 2025 and 2026.
Union demanding five paid sick days, job descriptions
In bargaining, OPSEU has also demanded five paid sick days for part-time support workers — up from zero currently.
Lacking paid sick days, Pettit said student employees frequently come to work sick because they’re not able to forgo wages and still cover rent and other expenses.
She said this has resulted in students getting so ill they have had to drop out for a semester, as well as increased the spread of viruses, as student workers get others on campus sick.
The CEC has agreed to provide only two days for some part-time workers, according to OPSEU.
Askandar said the union has also demanded that colleges provide clear job descriptions for all workers, something which she said is currently not the case.
At George Brown College, Askandar works for the institution’s paralegal program, helping arrange work placements for students.
She said her job is the amalgamation of two positions, but that she hasn’t been provided with a description of her role. She said this makes it easier for her employer to ask her to complete tasks outside of what she believes should be her function.
“Not having a job description has essentially given my manager the ability to ask me to do any of the tasks of the full-time staff right now while they're out on strike,” she said.
According to the union, the CEC has not been willing to commit to colleges providing all employees with job descriptions.
Labour Board dispute ongoing
Even if workers vote ‘yes’ on striking, a labour stoppage is not assured.
In June, the CEC and OPSEU signed an agreement in which both sides said they would not take escalating measures, such as a lockout or a strike.
Askandar alleged the CEC has subsequently violated that agreement by not being willing to sufficiently negotiate. The union has brought the issue before the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB), asking to be released from the agreement.
If the OLRB sides with the union, part-time support staff could strike as soon as five days after a strike mandate is given. The strike vote is to take place via an online and telephone poll between Oct. 14 and 17.
Lloyd said both parties will meet to discuss the current OLRB dispute on Oct. 15, but would not comment on the dispute further.