Ontario Tech faculty in Oshawa will go out on strike on Thursday

Full-time faculty members at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa will go out on strike on Thursday.

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology Faculty Association (UOITFA) has confirmed that the 281 faculty members it represents will be off the job as of 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 10. They also plan to set up picket lines on the university’s north campus around 11 a.m. that day.

A media release from faculty association interim president Kimberly Nugent said that no headway was made during talks on Tuesday. The UOITFA membership recently voted 80 per cent in favour of rejecting an offer from the Ontario Tech administration. Nugent also stated that the faculty association offered to go to binding arbitration to resolve issues while continuing to lecture and teach, but that was rejected.

“The university held firm on their ‘final offer’ that was rejected by 80% when brought to a vote of our members, except for four minor edits,” Nugent stated. “The University refused to engage with any of the UOITFA’s asks or priorities even though we were willing to work on proposals together.

“… We went as far as to present an offer that include an offer that would have submitted all outstanding issues to binding arbitration and the University still refused.”

We are extremely disappointed to report that @ontariotech_u rejected our offer and we have not reached an agreement. The strike will begin on Thursday February 10th, 2022.

Faculty did not want this. We did everything we possibly could to avoid a strike. pic.twitter.com/XQVusl1G2t

— UOIT Faculty (@UOITFA) February 8, 2022

Earlier this week, the Ontario Tech administration said the proportion of classes that have 100 or more students remains consistent with 2016. It also says that increase hiring of permanent faculty has outpaced the overall increase in student enrolment.

As of 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Ontario Tech’s website had not posted any message to students about how learning and campus life will be affected by the strike.