Negotiations between U of O, part-time profs continue as strike deadline looms

Part-time professors at the University of Ottawa are poised to strike as early as midnight tonight if their union and the university cannot negotiate a new collective agreement.

The Association of Part-Time Professors of the University of Ottawa (APTPUO)and the university have been at the bargaining table for four days this month.

Negotiations were continuing Sunday afternoon, just hours before the strike deadline.

• Part-time U of O profs vote for strike mandate

The contract ran out on Aug. 31, 2016. The union says its concernsinclude job security, salaries and representation on the university's senate.

Union spokesperson Shawn Philip Hunsdaletold CBC News thatAPTPUOpresented an offer Sunday and that the University of Ottawa is spending the afternoon considering their options.

He said negotiations may last late into the night.

Strike'spotential impact

On Oct. 20, 92 per cent of the union's members voted in favour of going on strike if an agreementcouldn't be reached by the early hours of Monday, Oct. 30.

Hunsdale said part-time professors teach more than half of the University of Ottawa's undergraduate classes.

A strike would have a major impact on the university because part-time professors are a "huge reserve educational force," he added, noting that the university is compiling a list of classes that would be affected in the case of a work stoppage.

In a statement to students, David Graham, the university's vice-president academic and provost, said the administration was hopeful it could reach an agreement before the deadline.

APTPUO represents about 2,500 part-time professors, includingsessional lecturers, contract professors in language and music courses and clinical professionals in the university's Health Sciences faculty.

Students at eastern Ontario's four collegesare dealing with a faculty strike as wellthat has cancelled classes for the foreseeable future.