October 16th. 12:01am.

That’s the strike deadline for the union representing college faculty across Ontario, as the latest offer by the College Employer Council was rejected.

JP Hornick is the chair of the union bargaining team. He says Tuesday was another frustrating day at the bargaining table.

“Our employer once again refused to consider key faculty issues,” he said, “The purpose of setting a strike deadline is to get negotiations moving – before it’s too late.”

OPSEU has said the key issues include giving faculty and students more of a voice in academic decisions and what it calls the “ongoing exploitation of contract faculty.”

Hornick says the employer “is not moving forward on the issues faculty care about most—even in the case of no-cost items like academic freedom or longer contracts for contract faculty.”

As we reported recently, Northern College will still be open if there is a strike, allowing students to have access to services to continue their curriculum even if their professors are among the over 12,000 OPSEU workers on the picket lines.

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