OPSEU, gave discover Friday {that a} province-wide strike might start Thursday, probably affecting about 450,000 college students throughout Ontario.
Get the newest from Joanne Laucius straight to your inbox Signal Up
Revealed Jan 07, 2025 • Final up to date 3 minutes in the past • 5 minute learn
. .
College students stroll previous an Algonquin School signal on the Woodroffe campus on this file photograph. School at schools throughout the province might go on strike this week. Picture by Errol McGihon
Article content material
As Ontario’s 24 neighborhood schools face a strike or different job motion as early as Thursday, one facet says schools are broke and rising extra broke, whereas the opposite argues schools are sitting on $1 billion in surpluses.
OPSEU, which represents full-time and partial-load professors, instructors and librarians, gave discover Friday {that a} province-wide strike might start Thursday. On Dec. 12, the union requested a no-board report after greater than 5 months of bargaining.
This commercial has not loaded but, however your article continues under.
.
Unique articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, meals evaluations and occasion listings within the weekly publication, Ottawa, Out of Workplace.Limitless on-line entry to Ontario Chronicle and 15 information websites with one account. Ontario Chronicle ePaper, an digital reproduction of the print version to view on any gadget, share and touch upon.Every day puzzles, together with the New York Instances Crossword.Help native journalism.
.
Unique articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, meals evaluations and occasion listings within the weekly publication, Ottawa, Out of Workplace.Limitless on-line entry to Ontario Chronicle and 15 information websites with one account. Ontario Chronicle ePaper, an digital reproduction of the print version to view on any gadget, share and touch upon.Every day puzzles, together with the New York Instances Crossword.Help native journalism.
.
….
.
.
Entry articles from throughout Canada with one accountShare your ideas and be a part of the dialog within the commentsEnjoy extra articles per monthGet electronic mail updates out of your favorite authors
or
Article content material
The 2 sides sat down for 2 days of mediation on Monday and Tuesday. If there’s a strike, it’s going to have an effect on about 450,000 college students throughout Ontario.
The Faculties Employer Council (CEC), which represents the universities, stated it couldn’t focus on the content material of mediation. Nonetheless, CEO Graham Lloyd urged OPSEU to enter mediation “with more realistic demands” to keep away from a strike.
“Since July, we’ve been telling the union of the financial instability occurring in the college sector, a predicted $1.7 billion in losses, and the need to adjust their demands,” stated Lloyd in a press release.
OPSEU’s calls for have included a further 5 weeks of paid self-directed time above their present 9 weeks’ trip, leading to a 25 per cent discount in educating time and dropping the typical educating time to lower than 9 hours per week and solely 29 weeks yearly within the classroom, based on CEC.
The CEC charges that OPSEU’s “wholly unaffordable demands” will value greater than $1 billion and that OPSEU rejected CEC’s provide of binding arbitration to get a brand new contract. OPSEU’s calls for would improve educational prices for schools by 55 per cent yearly, stated Dr. Laurie Rancourt, chair of the administration bargaining crew.
Night Replace
!
Article content material
This commercial has not loaded but, however your article continues under.
Article content material
In the meantime, OPSEU argues that the one provide on the desk would depart it worse off than their final settlement. The CEC is “fear-mongering in the media about how ‘expensive’ our proposals when they can’t even show us the breakdown behind their unsubstantiated $1-billion costing, despite months of requests,” stated OPSEU in a press release.
“Perhaps they are mistakenly referring to the colleges’ accumulated surplus of $1 billion in 2023-2024?” stated OPSEU.
“We’ve done our own math, and faculty’s plan invests back into our colleges at a fraction of what the province will spend building a new luxury spa in Toronto.”
The reference is to a controversial 95-year lease for Therme Canada, which plans to construct a mega-spa on the former website of Ontario Place.
Algonquin School declined to touch upon the potential for a strike, referring inquiries to the CEC.
Tracy Henderson, the president of Native 415, who represents greater than 950 full- and partial-load instructors and different educational staff at Algonquin, stated the native is ready for labour motion, however stays hopeful mediator William Kaplan may also help the events discover a decision.
This commercial has not loaded but, however your article continues under.
Article content material
“In the meantime, our office is extremely busy as we support members in the event that a resolution cannot be found,” stated Henderson. “In short, nobody seeks to be engaged in labour action. However, the 79 per cent majority strike vote delivered sent the clear message that current conditions are not sustainable.”
Faculties have develop into more and more depending on worldwide college students within the face of declining numbers of home college students. The monetary well being of the province’s schools has been on rocky floor up to now yr as post-secondary establishments confronted a pointy drop in income from worldwide college students after the federal authorities introduced it was setting an consumption cap on worldwide pupil allow functions for 2 years.
In August, the Ontario authorities introduced it was suspending all new school worldwide actions, pending a assessment of entrepreneurial actions.
The CEC stated the $1.7 billion in losses will cowl two years, 2025 to 2026, however didn’t launch figures for particular person schools. Whereas the info has been damaged down by school, it’s not available, stated the CEC.
This commercial has not loaded but, however your article continues under.
Article content material
Alex Usher, the president of Larger Training Technique Associates and an skilled on post-secondary schooling believes losses shall be increased than $1.7 billion. Incoming numbers of worldwide college students shall be down 60 to 70 per cent from the place they have been two years in the past when the brand new guidelines kick on this September, he stated.
“No one made their visa quotas. The feds poisoned the well. International students stopped applying.”
However dependence on worldwide college students varies by establishment. Some schools have developed partnerships with 3P schools to instruct worldwide college students and have certainly collected surpluses or have used the cash for brand new buildings, stated Usher.
“If you look at where colleges chose to spend their extra money, it was almost all in buildings,” he stated.
“I can see where they (union members) might feel hard done by. And they’re going to be asked to pay for challenges down the road. That would tick me off. But what’s done is done.”
Some Ontario schools have already introduced belt-tightening measures, and there’s extra to return, Usher predicts.
In November, Sheridan School, which has three Toronto-area campuses, introduced it was suspending 40 packages and conducting a complete assessment of one other 27 packages, citing a drop of 30 per cent of scholars within the coming years.
This commercial has not loaded but, however your article continues under.
Article content material
Fleming School in Peterborough lower 29 packages beginning final September. Mohawk School in Hamilton lower its administrative workforce by roughly 20 per cent, or 65 positions.
Algonquin will not be excessive on the listing of troubled neighborhood schools, stated Usher. Nonetheless, there shall be program cuts at each school within the province and job losses — and never simply due to program closures, he stated.
“There is zero chance that any college will not make cuts. Every college will close programs,” stated Usher. “There will be a re-think of lots of parts of the college mission. It is going to be painful. It’s going to be a much different college system when they’re done with it. In the next month or so, we’ll see how they deal with it.”
A five-week school strike within the fall of 2017 affected about 500,000 Ontario school college students. The Liberal provincial authorities of the day legislated school again to work and later stated college students who withdrew might apply for full tuition refunds.
Beneficial from Editorial
Ontario school school union offers 5 days’ discover of labour motion
Faculties blindsided by order to halt new worldwide actions
Article content material
Share this text in your social community
