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Employer Final Offer Explained

In February, full-time and partial-load academic employees across the 24 public Ontario Colleges will have the opportunity to vote on the employer final offer that was distributed on Monday, January 17. The tables below have been created to clarify what is in the employer final offer, how it addresses academic employee areas of concern, the key differences between the employer final offer and OPSEU’s last set of demands, and why the Colleges believe that academic employees should vote yes on the final offer between February 15-17, 2022.

The employer final offer was created in response to demands from the Union bargaining team. This final offer contains only improvements and no reductions to terms of employment. The Colleges have not asked employees to give up or concede anything from the previous collective agreement. Many of the proposals contained within this final offer were introduced on December 13 at every College. These include the 1% wage increase (retroactive to October 1, 2021), medical cannabis, update to the counsellor class definition, and enhancements for partial-load employees among others.

We encourage eligible academic faculty to review the employer final offer and vote yes at the virtual polls to end the labour dispute and provide labour stability and certainty for students, employees, and the greater College community.

Chart legend:

Item

Description

CEC

College Employer Council: Representing the 24 Ontario public Colleges.

OPSEU/ Union

Ontario Public Service Employee Union: Representing Full-time and Partial-load instructors, professors, librarians, and counsellors.

The Proposals

Proposed solutions or mechanisms for addressing areas of concern.

Areas of Concern

Articles within the collective agreement as they relate to topics, issues, or employee classification.

The Difference

When CEC and OPSEU’s offer contain the same overall proposal, this column distinguishes the differences in the details between the two proposals.

Why Vote Yes on the Employer Final Offer

The Colleges’ view of how the employer final offer addresses the areas of concern and should be accepted.

 Workload

The Proposals 

The Difference 

Why Vote Yes on the Employer Final Offer

CEC and OPSEU Agree 

  • The creation of a Workload Committee to review the workload formula and recommend changes. The Committee shall discuss and examine issues relating to the assignment of work to full-time faculty under Article 11 and to partial-load faculty under Article 26.   
  • CEC commits to the creation of joint recommendations with faculty. 
  • Union wants to forego the joint search for consensus and have an external arbitrator impose changes without the arbitrator having been involved in the process. 

 

  • Joint committee will provide necessary data for making informed decisions before the next round of bargaining. 

  • The committee has a neutral chair who will oversee the process and ensure recommendations are made. 

  • Decisions will be made by those who are affected by them. 

  • CEC offer is lawful and does not contravene Bill 124 by exceeding the 1% cap. 

OPSEU also demands 

  • Immediate increases in attributed time for essay project evaluation and mode of delivery 
  • Union demands an immediate increase in attributed time for essay project evaluation and mode of delivery without transparent research. 
  • This demand would result in an increase to the cost of delivering the same programming to the same number of students which violates Bill 124. 

Indigenization, Decolonization, and Truth and Reconciliation

The Proposals 

The Difference 

Why Vote Yes on the Employer Final Offer

CEC and OPSEU Agree 

  • Add new Letter of Understanding to address Truth and Reconciliation in the context of employment under the Academic collective agreement.
  • Add two Indigenous arbitrators to the arbitrators list. 
  • Enable employees and teachers to bring an Indigenous elder to advise in WMG and grievance meetings. 
  • CEC proposes an Indigenous developed and driven process throughout.
  • Union roundtable predetermines process, parameters, and focus of work, before broad consultation with Indigenous partners and others.
  • Union roundtable incorporates western-style litigious dispute resolution process. 
  • Process to be Indigenous developed and driven by design.

  • Offer does not pre-determine process or resolution mechanisms.

  • Seeks meaningful engagement of Indigenous communities.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)

The Proposals 

The Difference 

Why Vote Yes on the Employer Final Offer

CEC and OPSEU Agree 

  • Joint working group based on the shared commitment to achieving employment equity within the college system. 
  • Employer working group leverages existing structures within the collective agreement in a collaborative process.
  • Employer working group submits joint recommendations directly to College Presidents.
  • Union working group disregards college level work that has already been done by faculty and other EDI experts.
  • Union working group is an independent committee that provides recommendations to the Board of Governors.
  • Union working group results in binding arbitration where the parties cannot agree.
  • CEC approach involves EDI experts and builds on the work already underway at Colleges.

  • CEC offer is consensus driven.

  • Recommendations will be heard by College Presidents who lead and oversee operations instead of the Board of Governors who do not.

Partial-Load

The Proposals 

The Difference 

Why Vote Yes on the Employer Final Offer

CEC and OPSEU Agree 

  • Accrual of service for Holidays on which scheduled to teach.
  • Stability in the provision of priority status for a full academic year.
  • Extension of priority for former partial-load employees who are currently employed on a sessional or part-time basis.

 N/A

  • CEC offer provides employment enhancements to partial-load employees.

  • CEC offer improves priority for established partial-load employees who may be part-time or sessional in a given semester.

  • Priority is not lost if a course code changes without major content revision.

OPSEU also demands 

  • Bridge sick leave plan benefits during non-teaching periods when they have a written non-binding offer.
  • Partial-Load employees who have more service be granted the maximum possible partial-load assignment (12 hrs/week). 

 

  • OPSEU demands for the bridging of sick-leave plan benefits during non-teaching periods when they have a written non-binding offer.
  • Currently, the collective agreement provides bridging of sick-leave plan benefits during non-teaching periods once an offer has been accepted in writing. 
  • OPSEU also demands that service time prioritizes the number of hours a partial-load teacher receives. 
  • Colleges have numerous partial-load teachers in specialized fields. This demand would require colleges to assign class hours based on service rather than prioritizing content expertise.
  • Union proposal distributes partial-load teaching hours amongst fewer faculty resulting in fewer positions and job loss. 

Staffing/ Contracting out

The Proposals 

The Difference 

Why Vote Yes on the Employer Final Offer

OPSEU Only 

  • Broadly defines faculty work and therefore encroaches on the work of other employee groups and bargaining units.
  • Includes language to ensure that all work which could be performed by faculty is performed only by faculty. 
  • CEC is not prepared to agree to language that would strip work away from support staff and admin employees who currently perform it.
  • CEC supports multidisciplinary teams.
  • CEC offer does not include language on this demand. 

Coordinators

The Proposals 

The Difference 

Why Vote Yes on the Employer Final Offer

CEC and OPSEU Agree 

  • Duties must be documented in writing in advance.
  • An employee may accept or reject a coordinator assignment. 
  • The parties’ proposals on coordinators are very similar and only differ by one word.
  • CEC proposal respects the individual’s determination of whether an assignment is reasonable to them.
  • On the Union’s proposal it is unclear who determines what is reasonable.

 

  • CEC offer recognizes membership concerns that coordinator duties need to be put into writing and must be acceptable to the person who voluntarily accepts them. 

OPSEU also demands 

  • "Duties must be reasonable and reduced to writing” 

Intellectual Property

The Proposals 

The Difference 

Why Vote Yes on the Employer Final Offer

OPSEU Only 

  • Limits on College use of employee-created materials. 
  • The CEC is not prepared to accept a provision that contracts out of the norms established under the Copyright Act.
  • Agreeing to this demand compromises the collaboration upon which the system relies. 
  • CEC offer does not include language on this demand. 

Counsellor Class Definition

The Proposals 

The Difference 

Why Vote Yes on the Employer Final Offer

CEC and OPSEU Agree 

  • Update to the counsellor class definition.  
  • CEC proposal acknowledges counsellors operate as part of a multidisciplinary team.
  • OPSEU proposal broadly defines counsellor work and encroaches on the work currently performed by other employee groups and bargaining units.
  • CEC offer updates the counsellor class definition without removing roles and responsibilities from other bargaining units.

  • CEC offer does not include language to facilitate contracting out of counselling. 

Salary and Benefits

The Proposals 

The Difference 

Why Vote Yes on the Employer Final Offer

CEC and OPSEU Agree 

  • 1% increase in compensation
  • Medical cannabis  
  • OPSEU wants more benefits than the 1% Bill 124 allows.  
  • CEC offer complies with Bill 124.

OPSEU also demands 

  • Dental implants or other additional benefits.

Length of agreement

The Proposals 

The Difference 

Why Vote Yes on the Employer Final Offer

CEC 

  • 3-year agreement  
  • Difference of one year.
  • OPSEU’s proposal of a 2-year agreement means the next bargaining cycle would begin in less than a year.  
  • CEC offer provides a longer period of labour stability.

  • Ensures time for working groups to make their recommendations before the next round of bargaining.

  • A 3-year agreement expires at the same time as the restrictions currently under Bill 124. 

OPSEU  

  • 2-year agreement