Dear Students,

Our collective agreement expired on September 30, 2024. We are in the process of negotiating a new collective agreement (a process that occurs every few years), but the negotiations are not going well. The Union (us) and the Employer (Colleges) don’t agree on many issues, including our biggest issues of workload (for full-time and partial-load) and wages

Here is some easy reading to get you caught up on what’s happening:

thumbnail of Conciliation next steps (8.5 x 11 in) – FINALthumbnail of Humber Student FAQthumbnail of Humber College Data – 8.5×14

From October 15 – 18, 2024, the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) held a strike mandate vote. Faculty voted 79% in favour of a strike mandate, meaning faculty support the bargaining team and the demands they have put forward.

 

How Students Can Help

  1. Sign this petition letter addressed to Humber’s President Ann Marie Vaughan (also CEC co-chair) and College Employer Council’s CEO Graham Lloyd.
  2. Let your professors, counsellors, and librarians know you support them. We are all part of the same Ontario college system, so we are in this together. Students are always welcome where faculty gather. And we usually have snacks!
  3. Follow us on social media: @opseulocal562 (facebook, x (Twitter), Instagram) and re-share our messages!
  4. Connect with your student leader groups: @ShareIGNITE, @Humberetc and other provincial student groups: @ontariostudentvoices @CFSon @casaacae @CSA_on show your support for faculty.

We’ve got a longer list in the FAQ below, but even these 3 things would mean the world to us!

 

Student FAQ

This section will be continually updated as bargaining unfolds. Have a question? Ask us: info@opseu562.org. (Please let us know that you are a student)

"College Faculty" includes 4 classifications of college employees: professors, instructors, counsellors, and librarians. Most faculty who fall into these 4 categories are unionized under Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU). Our collective agreement (the document that dictates our terms of employment) expired September 30, 2024.

Professors include those who are full-time (permanent employees) and partial-load (non-full-time employees who teach 7 - 12 hours per week); they are unionized. There are also professors who teach 6 hours or less per week (designated as "part time") and those who teach 13 hours or more (designated as "sessional"), who are non-full-time and not unionized.

As a student, you may not know which category your professors fall under. However, more than 70% of professors at Humber are non-full-time (part-time, partial-load, or sessional) employees, meaning they have to re-apply for their jobs every 4 months. There are other vast inequities between the different employment statuses of professors (including pay, benefits, and job security), and has been one of the main concerns in the last few rounds of bargaining. Collectively for professors, workload is a major concern.

Instructors are another classification of unionized employees, who do similar, but a smaller subset, of work as professors. At Humber, we have very few "instructors", and/or they are limited to certain specialized programs in the College. Similar to professors, they are either full-time or partial-load employees.

Counsellors (which include both mental health counsellors and accessibility consultants) and librarians include only full-time employees, although some of your counsellors and librarians are employed by contract ("sessional" and therefore, not unionized). Although counsellors and librarians traditionally do not fall under "teaching faculty", their responsibilities have expanded over the years, and many counsellors and librarians teach students in various settings. More importantly, they are an essential part of the college system and support to students (and to faculty!).

Did you know that only 11 out of the 24 Ontario colleges have faculty librarians? Thankfully, Humber is one of those 11 with faculty librarians remaining, however, we don't know for how long. Did you know that some colleges are outsourcing counselling work, and that at some colleges, students can't even see a counsellors face to face? Again, thankfully, Humber has counsellors at both the Lakeshore and North campus, but not enough. As it stands, we currently have 6 full-time counsellors and 10 accessibility consultants to service the entire college, across 3 campuses, which this fall, totals more than 25,000 students! We need more counsellors and accessibility consultants to ensure you, the students, can reach support in a timely way. 

  1. Workload: full-time professors workloads are mapped out on a Standard Workload Formula (SWF). It's a tool that was meant to describe the amount of work required to teach the assigned classes, including time for preparation, feedback, and other assigned work (like research, sitting on committees, training, curriculum development, etc.). The SWF has not changed in any significant way since 1985! That's before the internet - before the start to any online courses, BlackBoard course sites, or emails; before ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence and Large Language Model tools; and way before colleges started offering degree and post-graduate level programs. More broadly, the SWF does not account for the technological advancements and evolution of the college system over the last 40 years. It also does not consider the increased number (and complexity) of student accommodations, professional and legislative requirements, and changes to pedagogy.For partial-load faculty, the number of students in their class isn't even a factor in their workload. In other words, whether a partial-load professor teaches 30 students or 100 students, they are paid exactly the same amount to deliver the course.

    When teachers don’t have the required time to prepare classes and grade assignments, you suffer. When class sizes get out of control, you suffer. When teachers have so many students each term they can’t remember who needs accommodations and they can’t possibly answer emails in a timely manner, you suffer. For all faculty, volunteerism is becoming the norm. 

  2. Wages: Faculty have received 1% - 2% increases for decades, meaning we've fallen behind in wages, and our income isn't even on par with inflation. In other words, faculty are essentially receiving pay cuts each year, rather than pay increases. Cost of living is a huge factor, especially for faculty living in the Greater Toronto Area.  
  3. Job Security: there is minimal job security for partial-load faculty. Imagine having to re-apply for your job, term after term, year after year. Some faculty have been in this position for decades - and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Did you know that during Reading Week, most of your professors are technically not employed? The inequity that precarious faculty face goes far beyond the lack of job security; for example, in between terms (and therefore, in between contracts), faculty do not have health benefits. The College wants to maintain faculty in uncertain and precarious positions. 
  4. No Contracting Out: The student mental health crisis in post-secondary is on the rise, yet Humber College refuses to hire more full time counselling faculty. How can 6 full time counsellors adequately support over 25,000 students? Not to mention that we currently have no Black or Indigenous counsellors to support our Black and Indigenous students and communities. Our Accessibility Consultants are equally as stretched, with only 10 full time consultants serving the entire student population across 3 campuses. Faculty work, especially with librarians and counsellors, must remain faculty work. We need more librarians and counsellors, not less.

The CEC claims they can’t afford to pay teachers for the work they do. They are blaming the uncertainty of policies relating to International Students. However, the 24 colleges have together amassed an incredible $1 Billion of surplus in the last year alone. We want them to use this money to hire more full-time faculty, to redistribute workloads to manageable and equitable loads, which will translate to better service for students. We want the College to invest in faculty.

Over 15,000 faculty members from across the province had the opportunity to vote on the Strike Mandate Vote from Oct 15 to 18, 2024 (originally Oct 17, but the deadline was extended by day due to OLRB's error). In the end, over 11,000 members voted (76.1%) in favour of a strike mandate. In other words, faculty are standing by their demands put forward by our elected bargaining team. They are giving our bargaining team the authority to call strike action, if and only when necessary. Our ultimate goal is still to come to a negotiated deal at the table, without any other form of escalation. 

Keep in mind that with a strike mandate in hand, a strike is not the only tool in our toolbox. 

Last round (in 2021), the bargaining team called for labour job action called Work-to-Rule, whereby faculty work strictly to the limits of their contract (no volunteer work, no work outside of work hours, etc). A rotating strike is a strategic series of work stoppages of all bargaining unit members for fixed periods of time (e.g., one day or one week) at various colleges or campuses. Another example of job action is targeted work stoppages, where specific duties are stopped for a limited period of time. Unlike work to rule, this action involves the refusal to do a portion of assigned work, and therefore, would typically be accompanied by a proportional reduction in salary. The level of escalation required is entirely determined by the Colleges’ willingness to engage with faculty demands, to refer outstanding issues to binding interest arbitration, to impose further terms and conditions, or to force a final offer vote. A strike is where faculty withdraw 100% from their work duties, and instead, will walk a picket line or other strike actions. It's important to remember that any job action, including a strike, will only be called if and when necessary. The goal if any job action is to add pressure on the Employer to reach a negotiated deal

Since the start of the college system over 50 years ago, no semester has ever been lost due to a strike or other work stoppages, and we don't foresee this happening now either. Regardless of how negotiations unfold, we will do our best to keep you informed. If you have questions about the state of negotiations, don't be afraid to reach out to your professors, counsellors, and librarians. 

The College Employer Council is the bargaining agent for the 24 Ontario colleges. Our friends at Local 110 (Fanshawe College) have created this excellent FAQ page: What is the College Employer Council? - OPSEU Local 110 (opseu110.ca)

Here's a look at the College Presidents (and their salaries) who sit on the CEC board of directors:

Binding interest arbitration is when both sides (Employer and Union) agree to have a third-party arbitrator select proposals from both side's offers, choosing the portions that they believe are the most appropriate (the arbitrator gets to choose). It means that both sides no longer have any say in what the negotiated collective agreement may look like; it's entirely up to the arbitrator to decide.

It also means that neither party would be able to exercise their rights for job action; the College could not lock out faculty nor impose terms and conditions; the Union could not call a strike or any other form of job action. And as such, binding interest arbitration essentially removes both parties' rights for negotiations, since the duty of deciding the agreement falls onto the 3rd party arbitrator. It is a tool that makes sense only in certain circumstances, and at specific times in the bargaining process.

It is important to understanding that timing and external factors play a big role in bargaining. That said, let us compare last round (2021) with this current round (2024).

In the last round of bargaining, the Union proposed binding interest arbitration in the early stages of bargaining (Fall 2021). That's because our landscape was very different at that time:

  • We were still in the thick of COVID; many people were scared or sick (or both). Most colleges had very limited in-person meetings and classes (which also had vaccination requirements to enter); many people had to take care of elderly, ill, or immunocompromised loved ones. It was a very stressful time for many reasons, due to COVID.
  • Bill 124 was in effect, meaning wages were automatically capped at 1%. This means that wages and benefits weren't even a topic of negotiations in bargaining, as it couldn't really be "negotiated" at all.

On these two factors alone, faculty and students were facing enough stress and anxiety. So the bargaining team made the decision that stability was the most important thing we could give to faculty and students in this round. And that is why binding interest arbitration was proposed by the Union at the start of negotiations. It was an unusual move, as the whole concept of "bargaining" from the worker's perspective is to negotiate stronger protections and better terms of employment for our members. But in 2021, binding arbitration from the get-go meant that faculty and students would have peace of mind that their classes would not be disrupted in any way due to bargaining.

Typically in bargaining, binding interest arbitration tends to happen towards the end (if at all) when both parties have had a decent opportunity to negotiate using the normal 'tools' and following standard bargaining processes. Ending with binding arbitration would essentially be the final step to 'close the deal' by a 3rd party arbitrator.

This round is very different:

  • Most, if not all, colleges are operating in-person at pre-pandemic levels. Student enrollment at many colleges is also back to pre-pandemic levels (although changes to International Student policies have affected some colleges more than others; not so much at Humber though)
  • Bill 124 was repealed, so wages can be properly negotiated.
  • Workload continues to be a major issue in bargaining, as in previous rounds. The Workload Task Force was tasked (in 2022) with developing a report on workload to inform this round of bargaining. That report was completed and publicly shared in September 2024. 
  • Faculty are ready for improvements to the collective agreement: we have a 79% strike mandate vote - the highest one of this generation - meaning "we support our bargaining team and authorize them to call any strike action, if any when necessary."

For all these reasons (and many more), this round is about fighting for what we are owed (which translates to what students are owed). The best way to get what we are owed is through proper negotiation between the two parties. We have tools in our toolbox, as does the Employer. The membership voted to support the bargaining team to make decisions on labour action if and when needed, and we will not give up those rights at this stage.

It's also important to note that the Union was the first to table a "no escalation" agreement prior to the strike mandate vote (discussions took place in confidence by both parties). Although it is true that the CEC was the first to table mediation and binding interest arbitration, the Union will not agree to arbitration at this stage, for the reasons stated above.  The Union did, however, agree to mediation, but the CEC does not want mediation without arbitration. We are at an impasse, but it is important that students understand the difference between last round and this term, in terms of binding interest arbitration. 

So glad you asked! Solidarity from you, the students, means the world to us. Here are some simple tasks that you can do to help support your faculty:

  1. Use our Bargaining Background in your virtual classes and meetings (Zoom/Teams).
  2. Talk to your friends and family about our top concerns.
  3. Write to Humber President Ann Marie Vaughan and ask her to reach a settlement.
  4. Contact your local MPP. Tell them you want this matter settled.
  5. Follow us on social media: @opseulocal562 (facebook, x (Twitter), Instagram) and re-share our messages!
  6. Connect with your student leader groups: @ShareIGNITE, @Humberetc and other provincial student groups: @ontariostudentvoices @CFSon @casaacae @CSA_on show your support for faculty.
  7. Let your professors, instructors, counsellors, and librarians knows you support them. A little love goes a long way!