TORONTO – Ontario faculty are deeply disappointed that Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government has announced they will cancel fair labour laws, including the $15 minimum wage, paid sick days, equal pay for equal work, enhanced bargaining unit consolidation provisions, and fairer rules for joining a union. Workers on university campuses and in communities across the […]
This year’s Educated Solutions, the annual magazine published by the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, features a thought-provoking article by OCUFA President Gyllian Phillips on the need to invest in faculty renewal at Ontario’s universities. The article explains how Ontario’s universities are underfunded, and the dangers associated with increasing student tuition fees, even when they are […]
MPP Chris Glover was appointed the NDP Critic for Training, Colleges and Universities on August 23, 2018. In this role, he will be the voice of the Official Opposition on postsecondary issues. MPP Chris Glover is one of 74 new MPPs elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in June 2018 and represents the riding […]
People across Ontario are planning to show their support for a $15 minimum wage and decent work on October 15. On university and college campuses, all faculty, students, and staff are encouraged to join in. In recent announcements, the Conservative government has indicated their intention to freeze the minimum wage at $14 an hour and […]
Ontario’s universities and colleges are vital spaces where a culture of rich academic debate and free expression should be fostered. Core to the mandate of our postsecondary institutions is the advancement of knowledge, and that requires our campuses to be places where all community members have the right to speak their minds and respectfully challenge […]
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) has launched a Charter challenge to contest the government’s cancellation of the Colleges Task Force. Following five weeks of picket lines, the task force was established as part the arbitration award that ended last fall’s college faculty strike. The task force was meant to address many of the major outstanding issues in […]
Last year saw the biggest reforms to labour laws for workers in forty years. Working with the Fight for $15 & Fairness , faculty are part of the movement that won these gains in Ontario. Now, employers and the big business community are pressuring Ford’s government to roll back decent work laws. Send an email to your MPP and Premier Doug Ford today to show your support for decent work laws. Faculty associations are already putting the new decent […]
TORONTO – “The Ontario government has announced that universities could face funding cuts if they do not comply with newly introduced requirements for campus free speech policies. OCUFA does not believe this government intervention is necessary and is deeply concerned with its implications for the province’s universities, faculty, staff, and students. Threatening to withhold funding […]
In an effort to build stronger relationships with new and re-elected MPPs, OCUFA will be holding its annual Advocacy Day in the fall rather than the spring this year. On November 13, professors and academic librarians from across Ontario will converge on Queen’s Park to share their priorities for the province’s universities. Over the next […]
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) strongly condemns the tabling of back-to-work legislation by the new Ontario government aimed at the striking members of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3903 (CUPE 3903). We firmly support the rights of all academic workers to fair negotiations and good-faith collective bargaining, and are concerned with […]
On June 29th, Merrilee Fullerton was appointed Minister of the newly retitled Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, in the new Premier’s Cabinet. Minister Fullerton is a first-term Progressive Conservative MPP from the riding of Kanata-Carleton. She is an alumna of the University of Ottawa’s medical school and a formerly practicing doctor. Ms. Fullerton does […]
On Saturday, June 16, 2018, a contingent from faculty associations across Ontario joined thousands who gathered in front of the Ministry of Labour at 400 University Ave . in downtown Toronto and marched to Queen’s Park. Themed as “WE the people”, the rally delivered a strong message to the incoming Doug Ford government to keep its hands off […]
Ontario’s public postsecondary education system has been evolving for over a century. Core to its development has been a foundation of robust public funding delivered primarily through the provincial government. The government’s approach to university funding has profound implications for the student experience and research contributions. A government that makes university funding a priority and […]
On June 7, the Ontario voters elected a Progressive Conservative majority government led by Doug Ford. This election outcome has a number of important implications for professors and academic librarians in the province and will pose several challenges and opportunities for the university sector over the next four years. During the election, OCUFA analyzed the […]
On Saturday, May 12 and Sunday, May 13, OCUFA held its final Board of Directors meeting of the 2017-18 academic year. During the weekend, board members discussed the organization’s current priorities – good jobs and vibrant universities, university funding, and capacity building – with a focus on the postsecondary issues that were likely to receive […]
