College support staff reject contract extension

TORONTO – Support staff at Ontario’s 25 community colleges have rejected a contract extension offered by the Council of Regents.

The 5,500 employees represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union voted overwhelmingly last fall to pursue a wage re-opener. The Council of Regents, representing the government, offered a combination of a $500 lump sum plus 2.5 per cent – effective Sept. 1, 2000 – provided college staff extended their collective agreement for a year.

Jay Jackson, chair of the union’s college support staff division, said union members voted for the wage re-opener because they felt the system owed them money now.

"College faculty got a significant wage increase last fall. When support staff negotiated its last contract, we were told the cupboard was bare. We accepted decent job security – which was the top priority of our members – but we were unable to get a pay raise. We went for a wage re-opener to address that concern," Jackson said.

The support staff contract will expire Aug. 31, 2000. "We’ll be back in bargaining next spring in the normal course of events," Jackson said.

"The offer that members rejected today is now the bare minimum we will accept in bargaining for a new contract, and our members will get it just as soon under normal bargaining as they would have through the contract extension proposed by the Council of Regents."

Jackson said it was unfortunate that the Council had not seen fit to offer support staff a wage increase during the term of the current agreement. "Our members have been hurt by the fact that their bargaining came at a time when the colleges were particularly strapped, while faculty were negotiating in an era of more relaxed budgets. Once again, the people at the bottom of the scale have been stepped on."

An increase now would have set the stage for a happier round of bargaining in 2000, Jackson said. "But as the Council wouldn’t agree to that, we’ll have to pull together and prepare for tough bargaining."

Members rejected the contract extension by a margin of 54 per cent. About 100 mail-in votes, yet to be counted, would not change the result. Nearly 70 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots

- 30 -

Return to Top