CORNWALL, Ontario – Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has put forth back to work legislation to end the five week college strike.
The Ontario Public Employees Union (OPSEU) and the College Employers Council (CEC) returned to the bargaining table earlier today, but talks broke down after only a few hours.
This came after faculty rejected the CEC’s latest offer in a landslide vote earlier in the day on Thursday, Nov. 15.
Both parties have also rejected submitting to binding arbitration.
“That’s why we are immediately tabling legislation that would end the dispute and return Ontario college students to the classroom where they belong,” Premier Wynne said in a statement Thursday evening. “Under the proposed legislation that we’re introducing today, all outstanding issues would be referred to binding mediation-arbitration.”
As of press time, OPSEU and the CEC have both yet to release any statements.
Wynne called on both the Progressive Conservative Party and NDP to join her Liberal majority in supporting this bill.
“We urge both opposition parties to unanimously support our legislation, so that students and faculty can return to class on Monday morning,” Wynne said.
