Classes at St. Clair College resume Monday amid threats of a strike from Ontario's nearly 14,000 college faculty.
Faculty at the province’s 24 public colleges, represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), gave their five-day strike notice to the College Employer Council (CEC) on Friday.
The two sides have been bargaining since July, and members have been without a collective agreement since Oct. 1, 2024.
OPSEU has said its primary concern is over job security, as over 50 per cent of faculty, librarians, and counsellors are employed on semester-long contracts and don’t have long-term job stability.
Mark Colangelo is a professor in the developmental service worker program at St. Clair College and president of OPSEU Local 138.
He represents 320 full-time faculty members and around 195 to 215 part-time members at St. Clair.
"The reason that the bargaining team has chosen to move forward with potential labour action would be to give them more power at the table and to show the College Employer Council that were serious about our demands, and we're ready to move forward to come to a negotiated settlement," Colangelo told AM800's Live and Local with Kyle Horner."
The union and the CEC met for two days of non-binding mediation last month, but no agreement was reached.
The two sides are scheduled to meet again on Jan. 6 and 7 for mediation as students return to the classroom.
He says he's hopeful the two sides can move closer to the middle.
"Maybe a deal doesn't get hammered out in those days, but at least show some progress where that we can look that future negotiations will be fruitful, and any labour stoppage or any labour action can be avoided," Colangelo said. "I'm still fully positive that yes, we can come to some kind of resolution where there will be no disruption of classes."
Colangelo says all instructors will be in class Monday.
"Our plan is we prepare for the worst, but we expect the best, and the best is we will be ready to teach Monday morning. We will be teaching up until our bargaining team tells us that there will be some form of labour action."
The union has also filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the ministry, claiming that the CEC is bargaining in bad faith.
Speaking to CP24 on Friday, Graham Lloyd, the CEO of the CEC, said he was extremely disappointed that the union had given its notice.
Lloyd is hoping that the union would agree to enter into binding arbitration to resolve disagreements and avoid a strike.
"The strike is completely unnecessary because we’re happy to continue the mediation. And in the event that we can’t resolve things at the mediation table, we would move it into a transition to arbitration. And that way, we can protect the students and keep the students in school," he said.
-With files from CP24