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John Stammers, 1944-2006.
Latest News: March 26, 2006
In Memoriam
Professor John Stammers
With deep sadness we announce that Centennial Professor John Stammers died in hospital on Saturday morning. John was a respected colleague and friend to many at Centennial and also at Humber, where he taught night courses for several years.
We send our thoughts and condolences to John Stammers' family at this difficult time.
Centennial Local 558 will be planning something shortly to recognize John's life and contribution.
March 25, 2006
We have the memorandum of agreement and return to work protocol here (PDF file 28kb).
March 24, 2006
Hi All,
I finally got the call that we’ve been waiting for. Peter McKeracher called to say that Management finally agreed to binding arbitration, the strike’s over, we’re back to work on Monday. Below, I’ve pasted in the text of the press release that OPSEU has just sent out.
I expect that we’ll get a memo with more details over the weekend once the team has had some well-deserved rest. They must be completely drained.
Thank you everyone for all of your hard work. We did it! Now let’s start planning the party!
Hurray!
Maureen
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 24, 2006
Ontario colleges head back to class Monday
TORONTO - Striking Ontario college faculty and their students will be back in class on Monday, March 27. OPSEU representatives will be available at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto to discuss details.
College management and the union bargaining team signed an agreement today that will see outstanding issues resolved through voluntary binding arbitration. The union team first proposed the idea on Wednesday, March 22.
"It took two days for the employer to agree to our proposal, but the strike is over," said college faculty bargaining team chair Ted Montgomery. "We are very pleased that the improvements to education quality that we have been fighting for will now be dealt with by an arbitrator who will consider our proposals, and the employer's, on their merits."
"We have full confidence in the research and the reasoning that went into crafting our proposals for this round," Montgomery said. "Today's news is good news."
The arbitrator will also consider salary issues. All other matters have either been agreed to or will remain unchanged in the next collective agreement.
The current contract expired on Aug. 31, 2005.
March 24, 2006
Upbeat mood as talks continue OPSEU reports.
Canada newswire reports: Students say McGuinty is sitting on nearly $7 billion in new federal transfers for social programmes
OPSEU reports the Colleges ran $50 million surplus."There is absolutely no reason for college students to be out of their classes while colleges claim they can't hire new faculty," said Greener. "And there is certainly no reason for Ontario families to take on more debt to finance tuition fee increases that could be as much as 36% over the next four years."
March 23, 2006
OPSEU calls on Premier McGuinty to support binding arbitration to end the strike.
“We’ve consulted our experts, we’ve looked at the case law, and it’s obvious to us that final offer selection is tantamount to flipping a coin,” said Montgomery. “The issues at stake here are too complex, and too important, to be settled in such a fashion.”
March 23, 2006
Ted Montgomery and the bargaining team have issue an update (Word file, 44kb). Ted has said in part:
...it was the union that proposed arbitration, not management. Management has suggested that the union offered to end picketing. The union did make that offer but only if management agreed to arbitration. Management rejected that offer.
March 22, 2006
Picket Schedule:
Thursday March 23, 0700 to noon: North Campus
0730-1330 and 5 to 7 pm: Lakeshore Campus.
Picketers who arrive at the the Lakeshore at three and stay for the rally and picket until 7 pm will receive a 6 hour credit.
Check-in at the trailer before three.
There will be no picketing on Friday.
March 22, 2006
OPSEU: College talks break down; union calls for binding arbitration
The OPSEU college faculty bargaining team is calling on management to agree to binding arbitration after contract talks broke down today.
“Three days of talks since the strike began have produced no progress that would lead to a settlement,” team chair Ted Montgomery told a packed news conference in Toronto this afternoon. “It is now abundantly clear to us that no negotiated settlement is possible with the current management bargaining team in place.
March 22, 2006
CBC reports: No charges in picket line incident. Picket officials were surprised by the decision:
O'Sullivan, who described Stammers earlier in the week as "mild-mannered," said if it is the case he jumped on the hood of the car, "it's completely out of character for him."
March 22, 2006
Members of the Lakeshore picket marched on the local MPP's office. Catherine Marrion writes:
About sixty faculty marched to M.P.P. Laurel Broten’s office on Lakeshore Blvd. West this morning. Ms. Broten, who is also the Minister for the Environment, has not responded to attempts to contact her over the past couple of weeks so we decided to deliver a letter in person, reviewing our issues and including concerns about college management’s “semester completion strategy.”
We were a colourful parade, marching behind our OPSEU banner, followed by the Q-U-A-L-I-T-Y placards, and were pleased to see CFRB Radio and CBC Local News recording the event.
The Constituency Assistant, Angela Brake, received the letter and assured us Ms. Broten would have it in hand today. John Huot gave a clear-headed and articulate speech in front of the riding office (recorded by the media), and we then returned along the two-kilometre route to Union Headquarters, leafletting along the way. Spirits were high, and everyone got their exercise in today!
March 22, 2006
Thanks to Maureen and Robert for more pictures from the picket line.
March 22, 2006
The Toronto Start reports: College battle turns quiet.
The union's message is clear and concise: Improve the quality of education by reducing class sizes through the hiring of more full-time teachers to lower the student-instructor ratio. It also wants class sizes, now averaging about 28, trimmed to 25, and the percentage of part-timers cut from its current level of about one-third to 20 per cent over the life of the new contract.
March 21, 2006
On Thursday, March 23rd, there will be a Solidarity Rally at Humber’s Lakeshore Campus picket line. Teachers, education workers and other supporters will join striking Humber faculty to rally for education quality and a settlement in the two week old strike. More information about Humber's rally is here.
Maureen Wall writes:
Please circulate the attached flyer (Word file 36kb) to your contacts to bring them out to the rally, including particularly:
- Supportive students
- Part Time and Sessional faculty in your program
- Contacts in unions or professional organizations associated with your program
March 21, 2006
We have a video explaining some of the issues this strike is about. Flash is required: the file is about 10 mb and runs for about 6 minutes.
March 21, 2006
The CBC reports: Police to interview more witnesses in picket line accident case. The teacher, John Stammers (who has taught for Humber) is showing some signs of recovery: but is stilled listed as critical.
March 21, 2006
OPSEU announces: Solidarity rallies set for Thursday. This Thursday March 23: dates and locations are here.
March 21, 2006
We now have pictures from the Lakeshore Campus picket line.
March 21, 2006
The CBC reports: College strike negotiations enter day two. The teacher hurt at the Centennial College picket remains in critical condition at Sunnybrook. The decision to lay charges will be made this afternoon.
March 20, 2006
We have a number of memos from Ted and Maureen.
Ted's negotiating update: a warning that if management does not have a new offer then today's meeting may be a ploy for more time. (Word file, 40 kb).
Ted has another memo about the use of replacement workers:
The use of replacement workers in the education sector is unprecedented and for good reason. Aside from the damage to the value of credentials, if replacement workers were to be used in place of college faculty, there would be staggering damage to relations in a system that depends on a considerable degree of collegiality. That would be destroyed.
The full memo is available here (Word file 44kb).
We have a letter of support (PDF file 32kb) from the Elementary Teachers Federation.
We have a series of questions and answers about the completion strategy for this term once the strike is over. (Word file, 52kb).
Finally a memo from Maureen about the recent updates to the Humber College website.
The message “To All Full-time Humber Students” on the Humber website makes reference to College plans that we would consider strike-breaking:
“A variety of course completion strategies will be employed. Students should be prepared for more out-of-class assignments, targeted independent learning, integrated project activities, challenge examinations, and web-based delivery. In some cases, there may be tutorials, in-lab or other activities led by academics who are not part of the work stoppage.”
If any employees – managers, support staff, or “academics who are not part of the work stoppage” – engage in any work that would normally be done by faculty who are currently on strike, we will view it as strike-breaking and will take action accordingly.
The full memo is available here (Word file 80kb).
March 19, 2006
Last week's homepage and news have been archived.
March 18, 2006
We have more Rally pictures here.
March 17, 2006
Talks resume Monday at 9:30 a.m: OPSEU reports.
The news comes after management and the union met this morning (in separate meetings) with Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities.
“We hope that management got the message from the rallies [on March 16], both our rally and the students’ rally,” said OPSEU bargaining team chair Ted Montgomery. “We hope that they got the message from the minister, and we remain optimistic that they’ll put a serious and reasonable offer on the table.”
The union was prepared to resume talks today, but management proposed Monday, Montgomery said.
March 17, 2006
Ontario colleges call for mediator to resume negotiations.
Ontario's colleges have contacted the provincial mediator to request that talks resume between the colleges and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) representing faculty. "We remain committed to getting a negotiated agreement," said Joy Warkentin, the chair of the management bargaining team for the College Compensation and Appointments Council. "It is time to end this strike and get the students and the faculty back in the classroom."
