Ontario college negotiators bargaining with OPSEU say they are disappointed by the union’s latest proposal.
"The union is only tinkering with its proposals and not making the substantive changes needed to get a deal," Sonia Del Missier, chair of the colleges' bargaining team, said in a statement.
"The colleges' final offer is now the only path to a settlement that would avoid a strike."
OPSEU, representing faculty at Ontario's 24 public colleges has set a strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. on Monday.
Del Missier said her team’s final offer is comparable to, or better than, recent public-sector settlements with teachers, college support staff, hospital professionals, and Ontario public servants.
She says they are hoping to continue bargaining over the weekend.
OPSEU has said the colleges negotiating team is misleading the public. It said the colleges’ claim that its final offer would see improved conversion of contract faculty to full-time positions is false.
The union says its key issues include giving faculty and students more of a voice in academic decisions and what it calls the ongoing exploitation of contract faculty.
