According to reports on social media, striking faculty at Ontario’s colleges have rejected a final offer.
Reporters flooded Twitter a few moments ago with word striking faculty have rejected the College Employer Council’s (CEC) final offer in a forced vote that ended at 10 a.m. this morning.
On Nov. 6, the CEC called for a forced vote as negotiations between it and the faculty union, OPSEU, failed to come to mediated settlement.
“Ontario college faculty have exercised their democratic right and by rejecting the offer have chosen to continue to strike,” said Sonia Del Missier, a former vice president at Cambrian College and the chair of the colleges’ bargaining team, in a statement. “This is a terrible result for the 500,000 student who remain out of class.
“I completely sympathize with our students who have been caught in this strike for more than four weeks. The strike has gone on for too long — and we still need to resolve it and get our students and faculty back in class.”
Del Missier said the bargaining team will be in touch with the provincially appointed mediator today to seek direction.
Premier Kathleen Wynne is apparently meeting with negotiators from both sides today to try to reach a solution.
Today is Day 32 of the strike.
More to come.
