Bargaining Update - Ontario colleges enhance offer and repeat request for arbitration to avoid strike
The College Employer Council (CEC) provided another offer to the OPSEU bargaining unit representing full-time support staff at Ontario’s 24 public colleges with the aim to move discussions forward after 19 days of negotiations. This group is in a legal strike position effective September 11, 2025.
Highlights of the CEC offers include:
- Enhanced severance packages
CEC also offered to withdraw its proposals on split shifts, increases to on-call hours, and limits on bumping rights and grievances.
CEC proposals are remarkable at a time when Ontario colleges are closing campuses, receiving emergency government loans, and reducing staff by approximately 10,000 in the last year alone.
A strike does not benefit anyone in the college community – not employees and not students. Also, a strike will not make OPSEU’s unrealistic demands more affordable for colleges.
Last week, CEC requested that any unresolved issues between the parties be referred to interest arbitration. OPSEU’s response was “Not at this time.”
“There is no better time to turn down the temperature and bring some stability to the lives of college employees and students,” said Graham Lloyd, Chief Executive Officer of the CEC. “We again ask OPSEU to agree to an independent third party to arbitrate any outstanding issues in order to avoid a strike that is considered unnecessary by colleges and by many full-time support staff.”
The last time CEC and OPSEU resorted to interest arbitration was in June 2025 with college faculty. OPSEU has acknowledged that it has “achieved significant gains” through this process. Why not now?
