Sault College faculty member and OPSEU Local 6-13 President Frank Turco remains hopeful that a negotiated settlement can be reached in the college faculty strike that has now entered a third week.
The province has said it wants both sides to reach a negotiated settlement and both sides would rather have that happen rather than a legislated end to the work stoppage however, Turco says there needs to be a willingness for the other side to bargain.
Turco says the union has made compromises but the other side hasn’t been willing to do the same…

He says it’s important they address what has been a long-term trend…

Turco says province-wide, only 30% of college faculty are full time and Sault College is only slightly higher than that percentage with around 117 full timers and 185 part timers.
He says OPSEU has already moved from an initial proposed ratio of full time to part time staff of 70-30 to 50-50.
The colleges are against a quota saying generalized quotas don’t work.
There’s no sign at this point of talks resuming to bridge what is a wide gap to reach a settlement.