OPSEU rejects interest arbitration, ON college staff prepare to go on strike

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union—representing support staff from 24 Ontario colleges—has announced that its members will go on strike if a new agreement cannot be reached with College Employer Council by Sept 11. The council said that OPSEU has repeatedly rejected calls for interest arbitration and accused the union of “looking for a strike.” OPSEU full-time support bargaining team chair Christine Kelsey said that “[a]fter twenty one full days of bargaining, we have yet to reach an agreement that meets our members’ top-line priority: job security.”