March 23, 2006
Strike continues – no deal on arbitration
The strike by 9,100 college faculty continues until
college management agrees to voluntary binding arbitration, the
Ontario Public Service Employees Union says.
Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and
Universities, said today that the strike should end because both
parties have agreed to arbitration. This is not the case, said OPSEU
bargaining team chair Ted Montgomery.
“Mr. Bentley indicated that the parties have agreed to
arbitration,” said Montgomery. “We have not. The union proposed
arbitration. Management is insisting on final offer selection, a
process that is tantamount to flipping a coin.
“We are not in a position to take down picket lines
without a clear agreement on voluntary binding arbitration.”
Earlier today, the union called on Ontario Premier Dalton
McGuinty to lend his support to voluntary binding arbitration to
resolve the strike.
“The issues at stake here are too complex, and too
important” to be settled by final offer selection, Montgomery said in
a news release.
“Harvard law professor Paul Weiler, former head of the
B.C. Labour Relations Commission, has referred to final offer
selection as ‘the industrial relations equivalent of Russian
roulette,’ ” said Montgomery.
“It is rarely used in public sector negotiations, and with
good reason. It prevents the arbitrator from choosing the best
elements from both sides, as is the case with normal arbitration, and
it creates a winner and a loser, rather than a settlement that both
sides can live with.
“The Premier needs to put his support behind voluntary
binding arbitration as set out in the Colleges Collective
Bargaining Act so that all matters in these negotiations can be
carefully considered by an arbitrator.”
Meanwhile, the first of 25 solidarity rallies set for
today is already under way. OPSEU picket lines at every college are
welcoming guests from the education sector and the trade union
movement.
