Faculty at Ontario's public colleges will be in a legal position to strike in just over two weeks.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) has confirmed October 15 at 12:01 a.m. as the time a legal strike or lockout could begin. The date was issued by a conciliator after college faculty requested a "no-board" report last week.
"The reason for requesting the no-board report, and thus a legal strike or lockout date, was to encourage our employer to get down to business and work with us at the bargaining table to reach a fair settlement," said JP Hornick, chair of the faculty bargaining team. "That remains our goal. Our team will do everything in its power to achieve that settlement."
OPSEU is required under the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act to give five days notice prior to a strike, and the College Employer Council must give five days notice of a lockout.
A strike has the potential to impact students at all 24 colleges in Ontario, including St. Clair College, Lambton College and Fanshawe College.
The union said key bargaining issues relate to education quality and the ongoing "exploitation of contract faculty."
OPSEU represents more than 12,000 professors, instructors, counsellors, and librarians at the province's colleges. Their collective agreement expires on Saturday.