College strike is over

NEWS RELEASE

ONTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES UNION

******************** Ontario colleges head back to class Monday

TORONTO, March 24 - Striking Ontario college faculty and their students will be back in class on Monday, March 27.

OPSEU representatives will be available at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto to discuss details. College management and the union bargaining team signed an agreement today that will see outstanding issues resolved through voluntary binding arbitration.

The union team first proposed the idea on Wednesday, March 22. "It took two days for the employer to agree to our proposal, but the strike is over," said college faculty bargaining team chair Ted Montgomery.

"We are very pleased that the improvements to education quality that we have been fighting for will now be dealt with by an arbitrator who will consider our proposals, and the employer's, on their merits." "We have full confidence in the research and the reasoning that went into crafting our proposals for this round," Montgomery said. "Today's news is good news." The arbitrator will also consider salary issues.

All other matters have either been agreed to or will remain unchanged in the next collective agreement. The current contract expired on Aug. 31, 2005.

************************ EDITOR'S NOTE: Some media reports from other cities indicate classes will not resume on Monday, but later in the week. Any updates received from Sault College will be posted on SooToday.com's home page as soon as received.