Dear Students:
College faculty have agreed to go to voluntary binding interest arbitration to save the school year, and have asked the College Presidents to do the same.
While we believe that the best deals are reached through continued negotiations, we know that the College Presidents will not engage with faculty about our proposals. That’s their choice.
We also know that it is time to find a solution that does not jeopardize the school year through lockout or strike.
That’s why we’ve agreed to send all issues to binding interest arbitration, for a neutral third party to decide. We propose immediately ending this impasse by asking a mutually-agreed arbitrator to step in as William Kaplan did in 2017, and has been done in recent university faculty association strikes. This would end the negotiations without a strike or lockout.
All the College Presidents have to do is AGREE.
Binding interest arbitration has been the usual way for labour disruptions to be settled in the past when we have not been able to negotiate an agreement. It is the common way for labour disputes in the post-secondary sector to get resolved – common enough that it’s written into several collective agreements. Faculty are offering to do this BEFORE a lockout or strike. Binding interest arbitration is not a win for faculty. It’s not a win for College Presidents.
It’s a win for students.
The College Presidents have refused this offer for months. Their claim that arbitration simply “splits the difference” is false. What they want is “final offer selection”, which means one side wins and the other loses. It has been nearly universally rejected as an effective means of resolving labour disputes. It’s just another way for College Presidents to force their position on faculty.
To learn more, or to send a letter to your College President asking them to save your school year, go to https://www.collegefaculty.org/write-your-college-president/
Faculty want to support students: we will not strike if the College Presidents agree to binding interest arbitration.
In solidarity,
The College Faculty (CAAT-A) Bargaining Team:
JP Hornick, Chair
Jonathan Singer, Vice-chair
Kathleen Flynn
Michelle Arbour
Ravi Ramkissoonsingh
Rebecca Ward
Shawn Pentecost
Fleming Faculty Union 
Will OSAP reflect the school year being extended? Living costs should be covered as I’m a single parent working only part time. I’m relying on OSAP to cover rent and living costs. Is there a way to find this information?
We don’t have access to the OSAP processes. Reaching out the one of the student associations (SAC:https://www.flemingsac.ca/ or SA:https://www.frostsa.ca/ ) or the financial aid office (Contact Info: https://flemingcollege.ca/financial-aid) at the College would be good places to get the answer to this.