2 weeks into Conestoga College strike, employer says union demands are ‘unreasonable’

Support workers at colleges across Ontario, including over 700 at Conestoga College, have been walking the picket line for two weeks, but there may be an end in sight with the college employer confirming the two sides will meet with a mediator on Friday. 

This comes just a few days after the College Employer Council (CEC) called the union’s demands “unreasonable” and “impossible.”

“The most frustrating part for colleges is OPSEU’s [Ontario Public Service Employees Union] demands going into bargaining were already impossible,” said Graham Lloyd, CEO of the CEC, in a release on Monday.

“If OPSEU is going to insist on all these demands, then negotiations will not work and mediation is the only solution.”

On Wednesday, the CEC said in a statement that it learned through the media that OPSEU was seeking a government-appointed mediator.

“Although CEC has received no formal request from OPSEU, CEC has been engaged with the government officials and agreed to meet in mediation on Friday,” the statement said.

“We hope, with the assistance of a government mediator, we will be able to secure a fair deal that balances the needs of employees, students, and the long-term sustainability of the college system,” Lloyd said.

More than 10,000 full-time support workers at Ontario’s 24 public colleges walked off the job on Sept. 11 in an effort to ensure job security, said the union. 

The CEC and the union have been negotiating a new contract since June. OPSEU said it wants to see better wages, benefits and job security for its staff. 

College support staff represented by OPSEU are employed in 150 full-time job classifications across various departments such as disability services, libraries, student services, facilities, trades, co-op programs, the registrar’s office and financial aid.

‘Unreasonable demands’ 

Conestoga College said campuses remain open and classes are expected to continue. But child-care centres at the college’s Doon campus and the Driftwood Park Child and Youth Development Centre are closed during the strike.

The college said labs and other activities that full-time support staff are part of may be impacted as well.

Vikki Poirier is president of Local 238 representing Conestoga College support staff, which she says are the “foundation of the college.”

“We are so integrated into the students’ learning and it’s an unfortunate opportunity to explain to them as to why it’s so important that we are out there [picketing],” Poirier told CBC News on Wednesday.

Vikki Poirier is the president of Local 238 representing Conestoga College support staff. (Aastha Shetty/CBC)

On Monday, the CEC outlined what it calls OPSEU’s “four most unreasonable demands,” including:

A guarantee of no campus or college mergers or closures for three years. A guarantee of no staff reductions for any reason for three years. A prohibition on contracting out any services, regardless of circumstance (for example, snow plowing at smaller or satellite campuses). New restrictions on support staff work, prohibiting managers or faculty from doing even simple tasks, such as turning off the lights or checking on water leaks.

In its statement on Wednesday, the CEC said it values “the important work the college support staff perform for students and the college system.”

“Their work is critical to the success of colleges. We hope this process will result in a negotiated agreement and put an end to this unnecessary strike.”

Poirier said the earlier comments by Lloyd, especially about “managers not being able to turn lights on and off — that is so degrading.”

“And I would question if Graham Lloyd knows what our members do as support staff because it is more than that,” she said.

In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday, union negotiators described Lloyd’s statement and subsequent interviews with media as a “destructive PR tour ensuring that we won’t reach a deal.”

“And Graham, if you have better language in mind, we’d love to see those proposals at the bargaining table.”

Remaining staff are being ‘overloaded’

Leopold Koff is president of OPSEU Local 237, and represents faculty, counsellors, librarians and partial-load instructors at Conestoga College.

Koff told CBC News that without the support staff, he worries about the health and safety of faculty and students. 

“There’s shortcuts being taken where they don’t have technicians who should be there just to assure safety and oversee what the students are up to.”

Koff explained part-time support staff are “being overloaded” with “extra workloads that are being thrown and thrust upon them.”

“What are the odds that human beings can make mistakes when they’re [under] that kind of workload and stress,” Koff said.

Koff said the faculty he represents are fully behind the support staff because “they are the tip of the spear for us.”

“We are all in this together. This is a very critical moment for us.” 

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Conestoga College said “the health and safety of our employees and students remains a top priority.”

The college said it has contingency plans in place to make sure services aren’t interrupted by the strike, including “the temporary reassignment of some non-striking employees to address operational gaps.”

“These adjustments are being made thoughtfully and responsibly — no employee is being asked to perform duties outside their training or area of expertise, and workloads are being adjusted to accommodate,” the statement said.

It added that in cases like specialized labs or technical environments, “services are being temporarily paused or the curriculum is being rescheduled for when full-time support staff, including technicians, return.”