Ontario school college students could also be out of the classroom as early as Thursday if a deal cannot be reached.
Printed Jan 07, 2025 • 3 minute learn
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College students start a brand new semester at Fanshawe School in London on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. The union representing Fanshawe school can be in a strike place on Thursday. (Derek Ruttan/The Ontario Chronicle)
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By: Jennifer Bieman
LONDON, ONT. — Ontario school college students could also be out of the classroom as early as Thursday if a deal between the union representing school school and the group that bargains for the province’s 24 public schools can’t be reached. Either side are sitting down for last-minute talks amid the spectre of a sweeping strike.
The newest
OPSEU, which represents roughly 15,000 professors, instructors, counsellors and librarians at Ontario’s 24 public schools, on Friday gave a five-day discover of labour motion. The discover paves the way in which for a strike to start on Thursday, Jan. 9.
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OPSEU and Ontario’s School Employer Council – the group chargeable for negotiating a deal on behalf of the province’s public schools – met Monday and can meet Tuesday for non-binding mediation.
In a press release Monday, the School Employer Council mentioned OPSEU’s menace to plunge Ontario right into a province-wide school strike is “wholly unnecessary and a deeply disappointing provocation.”
The union mentioned in a press release Friday it’s “committed to bargaining productively” however mentioned the urgency created by a job motion could also be obligatory to succeed in a deal.
How we acquired right here
The collective settlement between OPSEU school school and Ontario’s public schools expired on Sept. 30, 2024.
OPSEU and the council started talks in July 2024 and agreed to conciliation, a dispute-resolution course of involving a impartial third-party, in October.
The 2 sides met for mediation final month and agreed to further mediation dates on Jan. 6 and seven.
A strike would have an effect on the three public schools in Southwestern Ontario — St. Clair School’s Windsor and Chatham-Kent campuses; Fanshawe School, with campuses in London, Simcoe, St. Thomas and Woodstock; and Lambton School in Sarnia.
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The union’s asks
OPSEU is searching for much less office precarity, higher wages, improved job safety for its members and an finish to workloads that drive school to do unpaid work out of necessity.
The union contends its members don’t have sufficient time to assist college students instantly, put together classes or mark assignments and do these duties on their very own time, uncompensated.
The school system is being supported by the unpaid labour of its members, totaling roughly $24,500 per school member annually, the union mentioned.
Amongst different asks, OPSEU is searching for modifications to college workload requirements, benchmarks it says haven’t been up to date in 4 a long time.
The council’s response
The council on Monday accused OPSEU of “putting forward wholly unaffordable demands” that will value greater than $1 billion and rejecting its October provide of binding arbitration to succeed in a brand new contract.
“Students and faculty should not have to endure the stress of an unneeded strike, particularly considering OPSEU is making demands it knows the colleges can never agree to,” administration bargaining workforce chairperson Laurie Rancourt mentioned in a press release.
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Rancourt mentioned the council is urging OPSEU to shift its strategy and prioritize an end result that’s “fair and sustainable for everyone.”
In a press release Monday, council chief govt Graham Lloyd mentioned it has advised OPSEU of the monetary stress on the school sector, together with a projected $1.7 billion in losses as a result of worldwide pupil cap, and emphasised the “importance of ensuring their demands are reasonably aligned with these realities.”
Earlier strikes, settlements
The threatened job motion by OPSEU school school is just not the primary by the union. Days after the union issued a strike discover in March 2022, the council and OPSEU averted the job motion by agreeing to binding arbitration.
In October 2017, roughly 12,000 OPSEU members, together with about 800 Fanshawe school, walked off the job after a deal couldn’t be reached with the council. Job safety, and the rising use of extra precarious contract instructors, was a high concern for OPSEU on the time.
The provincial authorities legislated school school again to work a few month after the strike started.
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Ontario school school union provides discover of labour motion Jan. 9
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