Catherwood LibraryILR School

A strike vote is scheduled tomorrow at the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which represents about 9,000 university faculty and staff across the entire province. OPSEU and the university administrations have stalled in their negotiations, butting heads over work time and pay issues. The university professors are asking a paid time increase of 20% to account for the work they do prepping for class, grading assignments, etc. Students at 24 different colleges could be potentially affected by an OPSEU strike and several university student groups have launched protest web campaigns, asking the two sides to reach an agreement that does not involve halting classes for a strike. In a similar situation in 2006, students missed 21 days of class due to strike. If the strike is authorized by tomorrow's vote, it is scheduled to begin as soon as January 18.