The following message was sent to students on January 17, 2022.

Dear Students,

Further to my January 11 Academic Bargaining update, today, the College Employer Council (CEC) asked the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) to schedule an employer vote with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) CAAT-A on the colleges' most recent offer of settlement.

OPSEU CAAT-A is the union representing full-time and partial-load professors, instructors, librarians and counsellors at all Ontario colleges. Currently, CAAT-A union members are taking part in work-to-rule strike action.

The employer vote provides employees with the opportunity to accept or reject the final offer tabled by the College Employer Council. The CEC can only request this vote once during a bargaining cycle. The OLRB will set the vote date and inform the CEC and OPSEU accordingly. It will take about three weeks for the vote to be organized. The OLRB is solely responsible for managing the vote. Neither the CEC nor OPSEU is involved in the vote to ensure its independence and integrity.

Humber will work with the CEC, OPSEU and the OLRB to ensure that faculty members who are eligible to vote are able to do so.

Teaching and learning continues while the vote is being organized. If the offer is accepted, the labour dispute is over, and the possibility of a strike or further academic disruption is eliminated. If rejected, the collective bargaining process continues. 

All scheduled academic activities are continuing as planned and there is no impact on student work placements or Humber’s participation in offsite events. As always, should anything change that may impact teaching and learning, we will advise impacted students and staff immediately.

As mentioned previously, Humber has contingency plans in place in the event of an Ontario-wide college faculty strike. Decisions about full-time and continuous professional learning classes will be made if a strike is declared. At present, no strike has been called. The union has been asked to provide advance notice to colleges if it plans to go on strike.

In the event of any academic disruption, including a strike, the college will ensure that students have the opportunity to achieve their learning goals in a timely manner.

We have posted an academic bargaining update and FAQ on our Updates page, and the College Employer Council has posted student resources on its website.

Thank you for your ongoing patience and perseverance in what has been an academic year full of challenges. We will continue to provide updates on www.humber.ca/updates and on our social media channels. Take care and be well.

Sincerely,

Chris Whitaker
President & CEO