The bargaining team for the College Employer Council has released some details about what prompted a break in talks with the union representing striking faculty at Ontario's 24 colleges, including St. Clair College in Windsor.
It says OPSEU tabled new demands for a $5,000 return to work bonus for each striking member.
Chair of the Colleges Bargaining Team Sonia Del Missier says the union's actions at the table moved them further away from a settlement.
The payment would have amounted to more than $60-million across the system.
Council CEO Don Sinclair tells AM800 News, both sides were given their marching orders to return to the table yesterday afternoon.
"We are able to get some things signed off that we had agreed to previously and OPSEU introduced a $5,000 signing bonus as a result of the length of the work stoppage and that was a position that was unattainable for us," he says. "We could not see that going any further, we talked about voluntary arbitration but they wanted us to drop all of our demands."
Sinclair is pleased the strike is coming to an end and students will return to class but he's not happy with the length of the work stoppage. He says next week will be difficult.
"It will be a bit of a challenge because it's not like you flip a switch on and you start back up," he says. "You have to get faculty back in and meeting to look at the academic year plans to get that back to the students on track."
Local OPSEU President Bernie Nawrocki tells AM800 News, he won't comment on the $5,000 claim stating he doesn't have the information but points out the college system has saved $100-million throughout the strike.
Both sides returned to the table briefly Thursday after union members rejected the employer's last offer.
When they walked away from the table, the Liberal government announced it was tabling back-to-work legislation to end the dispute.
The NDP is not supporting it.