The College Employer Council (CEC) and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, representing some 10,000 striking support staff at Ontario’s 24 colleges, will meet in mediation on Friday.
Full-time support staff, including almost 160 at Loyalist College, have been on strike since September 11 over job security, wages and other issues.
The CEC says it never received a formal request and only learned through the media that OPSEU was seeking a government-appointed mediator but that it’s to meet in hopes of reaching a negotiated settlement to end this unnecessary strike.
CEC CEO Graham Lloyd says colleges have put forward more than $145 million in improved wages, benefits and job security and hopes they’ll be able to secure a fair deal that balances the needs of employees, students, and the long-term sustainability of the college system.
