The union’s representing special constables and engineering staff at the University of Windsor have met with new university president Dr. J.J. (John-Justin) McMurtry.
The meeting was agreed to just hours before their collective agreements ended, averting an immediate strike for 26 special constables at UWindsor, represented by Unifor Local 444, and 16 staff at the Energy Conversion Centre, represented by Unifor Local 2458.
When the two sides agreed to extend talks, James Stewart, president of 444, told CTV Windsor that they remained "miles apart" on wages and contract language.
Manny Cardoso, 444 secretary-treasurer, described the talk with Dr. McMurtry on Friday as cordial.
"It was a good meeting. Introductions were more or less what was going on, but, for the most part we got our message across, where we need to be, what our expectations are, and he was taking it back to his team, so fingers crossed," Cardoso said.
Cardoso said they explained to Dr. McMurtry that the current offer from the university did not meet union expectations.
"[Dr. McMurtry] was going to review it with his board, and his bargaining team, and see if there's some room there for us to maybe reach a deal, something that works for both sides," he said.
Cardoso said they intend to get back to the bargaining table once they hear back from the UWindsor president and will then set a new strike deadline.
"It'll probably be a much shorter timeline as we've already been in bargaining for weeks, so it's nothing new, everything at that table has been discussed, we just need to get the ball across the line. Hopefully we can do that within a day or so, but, we will be setting a new strike deadline and hopefully we get a resolve quick," Cardoso said.
Cardoso said the union expects to hear back from the university within a week.