After a seven-year wait, part-time and sessional faculty across Ontario’s 24 colleges are on the brink of gaining union representation, according to the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEFPO).
On July 30, the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) decided to reopen ballot boxes, a significant move toward union certification for these educators, it said.
In October 2017, part-time and sessional faculty voted to join OPSEU. The recent decision is seen as a long-overdue acknowledgment of these faculty members’ rights, according to the union.
“We are confident that the ballot count will tell us what we already know: part-time and sessional faculty at Ontario colleges want to enjoy the protections and improvements to working conditions under union representation,” said Rebecca Ward, President of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 732 and a member of the OPSEU/SEFPO College Divisional Executive.
The ballots, once counted, will determine whether the part-time and sessional faculty will form a new bargaining unit under OPSEU/SEFPO. This would initiate negotiations with the College Employer Council (CEC) for their first collective agreement.
The journey to this decision has been marked by delays. Despite surpassing the required 35 per cent threshold for union card signings in 2017, the CEC objected under Section 31 of the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act (CCBA), leading to the sealing of the ballots and a lengthy verification process. OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick highlighted the persistent challenges faced, stating, “If history has taught us two things, it’s that employers will do anything to prevent workers from unionizing. And that nothing can stop the momentum of workers organizing – when we stand together, we win.”
This isn’t the first time such tactics have been used. Hornick recalled a similar situation in 2016 when 20,000 part-time college support staff faced a two-year delay before their ballots were counted, eventually resulting in an overwhelming vote in favour of joining OPSEU/SEFPO.
Jeff Brown, faculty at George Brown College and an OPSEU/SEFPO College Divisional Executive member, emphasized the persistent barriers erected by the CEC. “Despite the employer’s use of every conceivable delay tactic to prevent the counting of the ballots – expending millions of taxpayer dollars in the process – we are finally on the precipice of welcoming part-time and sessional faculty voices into the Union.”
