Bargaining Bulletin 22
Six months since we first secured dates for mediation-arbitration with the mutually agreed upon Arbitrator William Kaplan, both union and employer met from June 14-16, 2025 to settle the terms of our new collective agreement.
Mediation proved unsuccessful once talks between the parties broke down, moving us into arbitration. The terms of our collective agreement will now be ruled on by Kaplan, whose award will be issued in the coming weeks. We have stressed the importance of a timely resolution.
While the mediation-arbitration process is bound by confidentiality until conclusion, you can expect a concrete and detailed update on the particulars of our new contract once the decision is awarded.
As we wait for that clarity, one thing is for certain: we are living through one of the most consequential moments in the history of education in Ontario.
Hundreds of program closures and lay-offs in every single one of our communities are decimating our public college system, just when we’ll need it most.
Meanwhile, Ontario’s so-called leaders champion themselves as standing up to the disaster unfolding in the U.S. – while driving our colleges into the same devastation facing American higher education.
If there was ever a time to come together, it’s now. And in unprecedented times, we have to act in unprecedented ways.
It’s time we have serious conversations about how we’re going to fight for our vision of where we want our college system, and our province, to be years from now.
So join us Wednesday, June 25th, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. for an Emergency Town Hall on how exactly we’re going to Save Our Colleges:
Register here!
These are tough times, but despair is not an option. The stakes are too high, not just for us but also for future generations.
Real change only happens when ordinary people stand up in all our power. The fight will not be easy. But for the sake of our communities, it’s a fight we cannot turn away from.
Solidarity,
Your CAAT-A Bargaining Team:
Ravi Ramkissoonsingh, L242, Chair (he/him)
Michelle Arbour, L125, Acting Chair (she/her)
Chad Croteau, L110 (he/him)
Martin Lee, L415 (he/him)
Sean Lougheed, L657 (he/him)
Rebecca Ward, L732 (she/her)