March 17, 2006
Talks resume Monday at 9:30 a.m.
Contract talks between
OPSEU and Ontario’s colleges are set to resume on Monday, March 20 at
9:30 a.m.
The news comes after
management and the union met this morning (in separate meetings) with
Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities.
“We hope that
management got the message from the rallies [on March 16], both our
rally and the students’ rally,” said OPSEU bargaining team chair Ted
Montgomery. “We hope that they got the message from the minister, and
we remain optimistic that they’ll put a serious and reasonable offer
on the table.”
The union was prepared
to resume talks today, but management proposed Monday, Montgomery
said.
“We’re willing to meet
all week if negotiations are progressing,” he said. “If there’s no new
offer, then obviously they haven’t got the message yet, and even
greater government involvement will have to be brought to bear.”
Referring to
management’s “semester completion strategy” to save students’
semester, Montgomery said, “We say there is a semester completion
strategy: settle. And that’s done by dealing with the quality issues.”
