As we inch closer to our strike mandate online vote this week, we are hosting two provincial faculty meetings. While this is unfolding, our click to email your college president initiative is also underway. As well, your Bargaining Team has been busy presenting at local GMM’s! Your engagement and participation in these initiatives could not be more important. There is still room for a negotiated deal without escalation. Together we can make this happen!
1) Click to Email Your College President:
A primary responsibility of our College Presidents is to put students first and build community. Right now, that means supporting the option that allows faculty to focus on student success and ensures students continue their studies without distraction or additional stress – we are in a pandemic. They must direct the College Employer Council to return to the table and bargain faculty’s demands in good faith, or failing that, agree to Voluntary Binding Interest Arbitration. Final Offer Selection arbitration (FOS) (which is being suggested as the answer by our employer), is not an option. We are not gambling with our students. A win-lose position (which is what FOS provides) is gambling. We are not gamblers – end point. Click this link to submit your letter to your college president!
Write Your College President
2) Provincial Meetings December 7 and December 8:
In the past two weeks we have managed to attend more than 15 GMM’s. The engagement has been outstanding and the questions entirely on point. In another attempt to engage faculty, there are two province-wide information sessions with the CAAT-A Bargaining Team happening on December 7th for Partial Load Faculty, and December 8th for All Faculty. Both sessions are from 6:30-8:00pm on Zoom. You can register for these sessions at:
Partial Load Faculty Meeting – December 7, 6:30pm-8:00pm
Province-wide Faculty Meeting – December 8, 6:30pm-8:00pm
3) Strike Mandate Vote Online:
Voting in support of strike action does not mean that walking a picket line is inevitable. In fact, it likely means the exact opposite! If faculty vote in favour of work action, it provides us leverage – it increases the likelihood of our Employer returning to the table to negotiate a fair deal! Voting in favour of strike action allows us to organize work action, including work to rule. The strike mandate vote will take place online from Thursday December 9 until Saturday December 11 (at 3:00 P.M.). All current full-time and partial-load faculty will be eligible to vote. Ministry details (including a PIN) to be sent along shortly!
Many faculty members have been discussing their reasons why voting YES to the strike mandate is important to them. Here are a few that faculty have stated:
— If we vote YES to the strike mandate, our online courses and programs will be compensated accordingly
— If we vote YES to the strike mandate, we will have reasonable workloads and support for faculty
— If we vote YES to the strike mandate, faculty will have their say on whether the course materials they produce can be used in other programs
— If we vote YES to the strike mandate, no faculty would lose jobs, hours, or pay because of contracting out
— If we vote YES to the strike mandate, our Domestic and International students will have a better chance at success and more support from faculty and counselors because our workloads would allow it
— If we vote YES to the strike mandate, equity, diversity and decolonization will be acknowledged, addressed and have ongoing systematic change
— If we vote YES to the strike mandate, our workloads will be more manageable and more accurately recorded
— If we vote YES to the strike mandate, Coordinator duties will be reflective of their actual job roles
— If we vote YES to the strike mandate, Partial Load Faculty will have more stability in their contract work
— If we vote YES to the strike mandate, it shows the CEC that faculty stand by their proposals and demonstrates our collective voice as Faculty
4) Auditor General Report: Oversight of Public and Private Colleges in Ontario
This report is scathing and entirely supports the need for the structural changes we are bargaining for! You can find more information about this report at:
Private Career Colleges Oversight
Public Colleges Oversight
In solidarity,
JP, Jonathan, Katie, Michelle, Ravi, Rebecca, and Shawn