Strike averted at Sheridan and other colleges

A strike for most staff at all 24 of Ontario's college, including Oakville's Sheridan College, has been averted. Classes resumed this morning as scheduled and no strike will take place.

The colleges and unions made a joint announcement there would be no strike at 10:42 p.m. last night, Thursday, March 17, 2022, just over an hour before the strike was set to begin, jeopardizing the semester for thousands of local students.

Opening the statement, "OPSEU, the union that represents Ontario’s college faculty and the College Employer Council (CEC) have reached a tentative agreement and averted a strike at all 24 colleges across the province, including Sheridan."

In the statement, both sides (unionized teachers / support staff and college management) agreed to binding arbitration to settle the dispute that began in September 2021, meaning an impartial board will settle the new contract and neither side can appeal the decision.

Sheridan confirmed late last night, "All classes, in-person and virtual, will resume, as scheduled, on Friday, March 18 for full- and part-time students. All Sheridan campuses remain open."

The CEC said they had "reached an agreement to enter binding interest arbitration and the strike that was scheduled to commence at 12:01am on March 18, 2022, is called off."

The Ontario College Faculty affirmed that "The parties have reached an agreement to enter binding interest arbitration," that "the strike that was scheduled to commence...is called off.", and they also confirmed "This also concludes all work-to-rule strike activities."

In a separate statement, Sheridan specifically released emailed all students late last night: "We recognize how challenging this situation has been for our learners, for our faculty, librarians and counsellors in the bargaining unit and our administration and support staff."

"Our academic staff are second to none and our entire community has the best interests of our learners at heart. While this was a long and challenging negotiation, we strongly believe that our goals are aligned; to provide students with the highest quality academic and learning experience possible."

The original notice to strike was issued to colleges this past Tuesday, March 15, warning the strike would begin this morning at 12:01 a.m. if no deal was reached. There was also a possibility the deadline could be extended 1-3 days if "notable progress was being made at the bargaining table."

More information about Sheridan's current operations as classes continue is available here on their website.