FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 17, 2000

College support staff ratify contract

TORONTO – Support staff at all 25 community colleges in Ontario have ratified a new three-year collective agreement which will increase pay levels by 11.7 to 12.7 per cent.

In a vote held across the province Thursday, members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union voted 84 per cent in favour of the new contract. It is retroactive to Sept. 1, and runs until Aug. 31, 2003. There was a 78 per cent voter turnout.

OPSEU President Leah Casselman congratulated the union’s bargaining team for its creative approach which let it break through the 2 per cent ceiling set by the provincial government for pay increases in the public sector.

The contract covers about 6,000 employees who work in clerical, technical, computer, and other non-teaching positions at the colleges.

These results are unofficial. The official count by the College Relations Commission will be released Nov. 24.

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For further information:

Katie FitzRandolph (OPSEU Communications) (416) 448-7440; home (416) 967-5964; cell (416)561-5651; e-mail: kfitzrandolph@opseu.org