Talks break down between Ontario colleges, faculty union

Talks have once again broken down between Ontario's public colleges and the union that represents more than 12,000 faculty.

The two sides resumed negotiations on Thursday but union and college officials confirmed Monday afternoon that those ended earlier in the day with no new deal reached during the talks.

• Confederation College faculty on strike in Thunder Bay, northwestern Ontario

• Striking Confederation College faculty to attend Queen's Park rally

In a written release issued Monday afternoon, the College Employer Council the bargaining entity that represents the colleges said it has requested that the Ontario Labour Relations Board schedule a vote by the union membership on what appears to be a final offer.

The latest turn of events didn't sit well with Rebecca Ward, the president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union local that represents about 150 faculty at Confederation College in Thunder Bay and satellite campuses around northwestern Ontario.

"Our concern at this point is that the energy and effort we have put into bargaining has all been for naught," Ward told CBC News. "[The colleges] haven't moved and they are not addressing the issue of precarious work."

• Job security the 'big thing' for striking Ontario college faculty struggling with contract work

Job stability for partial-load faculty faculty members that teach between six and 12 hours per week has been high on the union's list of conditions it wants changed. Currently, contract staff are subject to single-semester terms. OPSEUhas said it wants partial-load faculty contracts to span a full academic year.

"We were hopeful that this meant they came with an adjusted proposal," Ward said of what the union was expecting heading into Thursday's talks. "That's not what happened; they came with essentially the same proposal ... and our team has spent the better part of five days trying to negotiate with this proposal that doesn't meet any of our priorities."

Another issue was the ratio of full-time to part-time faculty members. The union wants the number of part-time staff to essentially match the number of full-time staff. Currently, the union has said only about one-in-four teaching staff are full time.

In a written release, administration at Confederation College said the colleges presented a revised offer to the union which "addresses the priorities of the union." The statement alleged that talks broke down over the issue of "academic freedom" the ability for faculty to make decisions in their classrooms on a day-to-day basis which the colleges said their proposal guaranteed.

'Negotiated quite long and hard'

The offer presented to the union included language that Confederation College President Jim Madder said effectively resolved the vast majority of the outstanding issues, including those surrounding the use of sessionals, job security and hiring practices.

"People got back to the table again and actually negotiated quite long and hard," he said. "[They] managed to resolve all the outstanding issues that were there except for one."

Ward didn't see it that way. "We've put a lot of time and energy into trying to bargain in good faith to develop a proposal that would meet the needs of both sides of this table," she said. "At this point, it feels like that was a process that didn't have integrity."

As for calling striking faculty to vote on the offer, Madder said it's time staff had their say. "We want to make sure that people and faculty have the absolute best, most democratic way to express their desires."

Ward said the union is not recommending the deal.

The colleges have said the faculty vote could take anywhere from five to 10 days to organize. Madder said he expects to know more details by mid-week.