The clock is ticking as a strike is looming at colleges across Ontario, including St. Clair College in Windsor.
A total of 10,000 employees represented by OPSEU are poised to walk off the job at midnight on Thursday, Sept. 11, if an agreement isn't reached with the College Employer Council (CEC), the government-mandated bargaining agent that represents 24 Ontario public colleges.
According to CEC, the full-time support staff poised to strike includes technicians and technologists, clerks, assistants, analysts, tutors, and facilities operators.
Both sides are scheduled to return to the bargaining table on Tuesday and Wednesday, so a strike could still be averted.
The CEC said the union is asking for two items that the colleges simply can't accept: the first, that there be no campus closures or mergers, and the second, that there be no staff reductions for at least three years.
The CEC has offered wage increases and enhanced severance payments.
Vice President of Communications and Community Relations at St. Clair College, John Fairley, told AM800's The Dan MacDonald Show that the most important thing is to monitor for information beginning Wednesday afternoon.
"They're still talking in Toronto. It's not just St. Clair College; it's all 24 colleges negotiating together. All information will be available at St. Clair College dot ca. Go there first. Of course CKLW and all other media will get information as we have it. We will be posting everything there as it happens," he says.
Fairley says they don't want this strike to happen.
"I'm sure our support staff don't want it to happen. We are where we are with what's going on. They have what they have to do, and we support them. We have great relationships; we're not worried about a strike line and other things. They're so respectful," he says.
OPSEU Local 137 represents approximately 685 part-time and 195 full-time support staff members at St. Clair College in Windsor and Chatham-Kent.
-With files from CTV News.