College teachers hold strike vote
Posted Jan 13, 2010 12:11:41 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Almost 500 full and part-time teachers at Conestoga College get their say today whether they want to strike or not.
OPSEU faculty at colleges across the province are voting today to authorize or turn down a strike mandate over a new contract.
The union says the colleges tried to impose a contract on them; there are also issues around workload and wage parity.
At Conestoga, President of Local 237, Lana-Lee Hardacre, says even if the strike vote is “yes”, she expects a strike would not happen in any case.
She says negotiators from the colleges’ council have said they will resume talks if there is a strong affirmative vote.
And signs around the OPSEU office at the Doon campus boast of last-minute settlements for the LCBO and other agencies after their members voted to strike.
Hardacre, herself a teacher in Early Childhood Education, says if a strike did happen, teachers would assign work for students to do on their own during the labour action.
Hardacre says vote results may be available tonight, it depends on how long the votes in Toronto take to count.
Unionized faculty at Conestoga vote between 10:00 and 3 o’clock today at the Doon and Cambridge campuses.
The vote happens 10 to 1 at the Guelph and Waterloo campuses.
Conestoga College President John Tibbits has not replied to a request for comment on the strike vote.
