The vice president of OPSEU Local 125 says they thought progress was being made at the bargaining table -- but then the College Employer Council called for a vote and put a previous offer on the table.
Lisa Bicum says that offer simply contains too many concessions.
Striking college faculty begin to vote on it Tuesday.
"The union offer at negotiations was getting closer to things we could agree on," says Bicum. "However, following the latest round or bargaining, the employer pulled what movement had been made and reverted back to an old offer. We cannot accept that. The offer contains too many concessions on our workload. It really reverts back to getting rid of most of the things that were won over the last three strikes and we just can't do that."
Should the union reject the offer that's on the table, Bicum says she welcomes back-to-work legislation.
"Personally, I would hope that happens," she says. "This has gone on way too long. We never, never in our lifetimes, thought we'd be entering week five of a walkout, it's awful. We want to be back at work, so I personally am hoping the government will step in and legislate us back."
Meanwhile, the government has told the colleges, including Lambton College, to take the money they have saved as a result of the walkout and put it into a fund to help students who have been affected financially. How that money will be distributed isn't known yet.