Professors at colleges across Ontario will be voting on the final offer from the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities after the union rejected it late Wednesday.
Algonquin College professor and member of the OPSEU bargaining team Rod Bain said the main reason for a rejecting the offer was that it was “in no way substantially altered on any of the key issues from the previous final offer.”
Key issues revolved around the workload task force report, and Bain said management is trying to “cherry pick” from the report.
“We need to fully adopt all the recommendations that are in the task force report,” he said.
Bain said management is “using students as pawns in the bargaining,” while the union was asking for more time for faculty to assist students outside of class.
Salary was never a main issue, he said.
There are approximately 700 professors and instructions at Algonquin College.
The college has said that in the event of a strike, they would develop semester completion plans to help students complete their studies.
