Last week, the College Employer Council (CEC) commenced the process required to initiate a ‘Forced Offer Vote,’ (FOV) which is a union-wide vote on collective agreement terms. College administrators will have OPSEU-O members vote virtually on their most recent settlement offer between February 15-17. Employees have since received copies of the terms to review in…
Illustration by Katie Doyle As of January 3, college faculty have entered into the second phase of their labour action campaign, which will focus on a work-to-rule push. According to Jeff Brown, acting chief steward at OPSEU Local 556 and professor at George Brown, this event will be the first of its kind in the…
Illustration by Katie Doyle My impression of how George Brown treats its students with disabilities was spoiled before I even handed in my paperwork or spoke to a counsellor. The language that an institution uses often allows you to glean how much effort has gone into making students who are in a minority group feel…
This past Saturday, OPSEU filed an unfair labour practice (ULP) complaint against college administrators. The complaint was filed following a letter issued to the bargaining team on January 13, the content of which union members qualify as having “blatantly interfered with the rights of OPSEU’s members to choose to demonstrate support for their bargaining agent’s…
A statement from President Fearon released this morning outlines new health and safety procedures and regulations for the upcoming winter semester. The announcement follows rising fears and concerns over the uptake in COVID-19 cases, which has led to the acceleration of booster dose distributions throughout the province. Classes will begin on January 10, 2022 as…
Illustration by Katie Doyle From December 9-11, over two thirds of CAAT-A members, which make up the union of faculty, councillors and librarians at Ontario colleges, cast their votes in favour of permitting the union to pursue actions such as work-to-rule or a strike if necessary. A total of 59.4 per cent of votes authorized…
After months of unproductive conversation with the College Employer Council (CEC), the faculty’s union, OPSEU-O, has confirmed that a strike mandate vote will be taking place on December 9, 10 and 11. The vote will follow the CEC’s refusal to participate in binding interest arbitration, which would allow an arbitrator to review proposals offered by…
Illustration by Katie Doyle It has been over one year since Robby Thompson, a former board member on the Student Association of George Brown College, raised concerns over the inability of students to display their name and pronouns on student systems such as Blackboard to avoid misgendering. Despite creating a comprehensive action plan to tackle…
The CAAT-A bargaining team, which represents college faculty, has issued a strike vote in response to the employer’s request to the conciliator for a “no board” report. The report is meant to indicate that conciliation has failed. According to a recent statement released by the union, filing such a report could potentially allow the CEC to “unilaterally impose…
Photo by Halley Requena-Silva The SAGBC voted to approve a lengthy terms of reference contract which was prepared by its legal counsel Ben Millard and presented to the board on Monday. This will act as the basis for its governance review, which was sanctioned in a previous meeting. The terms of reference are intended to set out what…
In an interview with the Dialog this morning, the National Executive Representative of the Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario (CFS-O), Kayla Weiler, confirmed the organization’s support for the faculty’s bargaining team in recent labour negotiations. The CFS-O, which recently released a statement in favour of college faculty at the University of Manitoba during a…
Illustration by Katie Doyle GBC’s Theatre Arts students, who showcase their skills at the Young Centre of Performing Arts in the Distillery District in the third year of their program, will soon kick off their fall season of productions beginning with Shakespeare’s Cymbeline on November 10. According to the play’s director Aaron Willis, the story’s…
