OPSEU must let college faculty vote on offer
Union gives no response to colleges' request to allow faculty to vote Union decision delayed until Monday
"The colleges have made a good offer to faculty," said
"OPSEU should allow faculty to participate in a supervised vote on the offer,"
In an effort to avert a pending strike, the colleges presented the final offer to OPSEU on Wednesday. The key elements of the three-year offer are:
- A salary increase of 5.9 per cent over three years, which moves the maximum salary to $102,186 by Sept. 1, 2011. - Workload protections contained in the last collective agreement remain intact.
The colleges had hoped to get a response from OPSEU on Thursday but the union's bargaining team advised the mediator that they would not be able to respond to the request to hold a vote until next Monday (February 1).
"We need a supervised vote soon so that faculty members can make their decision known,"
The Colleges Collective Bargaining Act allows the union to take a proposed collective agreement to the membership for a vote. That vote is to be conducted under the supervision of, and in the manner prescribed by, the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
"We certainly hope the union's bargaining team, as the representative of the employees, will allow the members to make the decision as to whether they will accept the colleges' final offer for a proposed collective agreement. That would be the democratic thing to do," said Donovan. "If that vote was in favour of the offer, a collective agreement would be in place and a strike would be averted."
For further information: David Scott, (416) 786-1641
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