Ontario college faculty request 'no-board' report in contract talks

Would set strike or lockout date for mid-October

Ontario college faculty request 'no-board' report in contract talks
The CCBA requires the parties to give five days' notice of a strike or lockout. GOOGLE STREET VIEW

The union bargaining team for 12,000 Ontario college faculty has asked the conciliator in its negotiations with the College Employer Council to issue a "no-board" report, a move that will put the parties in a legal strike or lockout position by mid-October.

Under the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act (CCBA), either party can request a “no-board” report, which is typically issued within a few working days of the request. From there, workers can strike or their employer can lock them out 16 days later.

"Unfortunately, our employer's approach to this round is based on demanding concessions and refusing to engage with our proposals at all," said JP Hornick, Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) bargaining team chair. "It is our hope that a no-board report will make the colleges see that the way through the current impasse is through constructive negotiation."

The union has not set a strike date, according to Hornick. The CCBA requires the parties to give five days' notice of a strike or lockout. "If negotiations are moving forward as we approach the legal strike or lockout position, we will continue bargaining," said Hornick.

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