OPSEU says support staff at Ontario colleges vote to authorize strike, if necessary
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The union that represents thousands of support staff at Ontario’s colleges says the workers have voted to authorize a strike.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union says in a news release that members voted 77.3 per cent to authorize a strike, if necessary, to “secure respect at the bargaining table” and secure a contract the workers deserve.
It says the vote arms the bargaining team with a historic strike mandate as it heads back to the table on Wednesday for conciliation talks.
The College Employer Council, the bargaining agent for the province’s publicly funded colleges, did not immediately respond to the strike authorization but referred to an earlier news release which stated the union’s demands would expose colleges to more than $900 million in additional costs.
The council said the union’s wants include include six additional paid days off and 10 paid days off for family care.
The union, which also represents faculty at Ontario colleges, said last month that close to 10,000 college faculty and staff have either been let go or are projected to lose their jobs amid hundreds of program cancellations and suspensions since last year.
“As we head back to the table on August 20th for conciliation, we need to make real progress. And now, you’ve armed your bargaining team with a historic strike mandate to demand it,” OPSEU wrote Friday when it announced the results of the authorization vote.
The union has accused Ontario’s colleges of inflating the costs of the union’s proposals.
An arbitrated faculty contract between the union and the employer council released last month said the federal government’s 2024 cap on international students led to a dramatic decline in enrolment and tuition revenue.
The employer council said in a statement Wednesday that it was the union that was misrepresenting demands, and that the dispute was occurring “in the context of the worst financial crises that colleges have faced in decades.”
“A strike is unnecessary and a strike cannot make unrealistic demands affordable for colleges,” the employer council said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2025.