Thousands of full-time support staff at Ontario’s 24 publicly funded colleges are now on strike.
Georgian College issued a statement just after 1 a.m. this morning confirming about 465 of its support staff are part of the job action. Georgian operates seven campuses, including one in Owen Sound.
Classes for students are proceeding as scheduled, and all Georgian College campuses remain open.
“Faculty, librarians and counsellors are members of a different bargaining unit and are not on strike,” Georgian College says in a release.
The contract for full-time colleges support staff — who are represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union — expired on August 31.
The College Employer Council says it sent an “enhanced” offer to the union on Tuesday, but it was rejected.
“A complete ban on campus closures, college mergers and staff reductions could force colleges into bankruptcy,” CEC’s CEO Graham Lloyd says in a release. “CEC has repeatedly advised OPSEU that these types of demands simply can never be agreed to. They are more about broader political campaigns than the benefits we have proposed at the table for their members.”
OPSEU issued its own statement on negotiations yesterday: “We have yet to see anything on the table that protects members before they are laid off: including language that would keep our work in-house, keep colleges adequately staffed and open, or keep good jobs in our communities.”
Georgian’s Owen Sound campus is listed on OPSEU’s website as a “full-time” picket line location. Striking support staff are expected to be on the picket line starting today.
