Check out the PT Bargaining Team's webpage for the latest province-wide updates, or contact Sara McArthur-Timofejew, your Bargaining Team member from Mohawk College.

Need a Part-Time Power T-shirt to show your solidarity? Email Sarah Harvie to arrange a pick-up or delivery!

Please refer to OPSEU/SEFPO's resources first:

• Full-Time Support Strike Mandate Vote & Conciliation FAQ

• Full-Time Bargaining Town Hall Q&A

Additional questions we've received at Local 241:

What is the OPSEU Member Portal and why does it matter?

Register on the Member Portal with your union member number to provide your direct deposit and dependent information. Direct deposit is the fastest and easiest way to receive strike pay. 

Your union member number is on your blue member card. If you don't know your union member number or can't locate your card, reach out to info@opseu241.ca

I'm Part-Time. What does a potential Full-Time strike mean for me?

Part-time support staff will continue to work if FT are on strike. It is possible that you will be offered more hours of work. Our recommendation is to refuse additional hours being offered to you as a result of an FT Strike. 

Mohawk is the lowest-paying college in Ontario for PT support, and they will be depending on your under-valued labour to keep the college operations afloat without FT employees. 

We acknowledge how difficult it is to refuse additional paid work, but we are fighting for the quality of all support staff jobs in Ontario's college system. Your solidarity is part of that fight!

Can picket duties be accommodated?

Yes, picket duties can be accommodated for reasons related to the Ontario Human Rights Code protected grounds. There is a document to submit outlining the nature of your accommodation, and alternative duties (also known as "office duties") will be assigned to you.

Can I picket somewhere that isn't my home campus?

Yes. There will be a sign-up process through the Member Portal to make sure we have enough coverage at all campuses, but picketing at the campus nearest to your home is allowed.

If you live outside of Hamilton, and picketing at another college would be the closest campus, that is also permitted with the agreement of both Locals.

I can't afford to go on strike. Will I be paid if I work?

If you are FT support staff working while the FT unit is on strike, this would be strikebreaking, also known as "scabbing". 

We acknowledge the hardship being on strike can cause, especially when our wages have not kept up with inflation over the last 5 years. We will all be feeling that hardship. But working through a strike undermines the efforts of your co-workers fighting for improvements to your own employment contract. 

Many of us are living pay cheque to pay cheque, just barely staying afloat. This is a sign that your employer is not paying you fairly, and a strike may be the only way to change that. If you can't afford to strike, you can't afford not to.

The best way to earn money during a strike is on the picket line. Please read OPSEU's Q&A about strike pay.

Any wages earned by a strikebreaking member could be subject to fines, as per OPSEU's Constitution.

OPSEU Constitution Article 30: Strikebreaking

30.1.1 After giving reasonable written notice of a membership meeting to all Members of a Local for whom the Local has addresses, such notice to specify the purpose of the meeting and naming the Member(s) who is/are accused, and after all attending Members (and especially the accused) have had a reasonable opportunity to present their views, such local membership meeting may vote by a two-thirds majority to declare that a Member of that Local has engaged in strikebreaking, on more than one occasion, during a given legal strike by the Local.

30.2.1 The assessment for damages to the Union for strikebreaking shall be an amount equal to 100 per cent of the strikebreaker’s wages earned during the strike, to a maximum of $10,000 in consideration of the harm to the Union caused by the strikebreaker’s action.

30.2.2 The strikebreaker will be suspended from membership, removed from any Union office currently held, and the Member’s name will be recorded on a central public registry. These penalties shall remain in effect until the assessment in Art. 30.2.1 has either been paid or collected, if necessary, through enforcement in civil court.

30.3 The Member so penalized and/or assessed damages shall have the right to appeal to the Executive Board, which, after hearing all relevant evidence and arguments, shall have the authority to confirm, vary or nullify the penalty and/or forgive or vary the assessed damages, as it may in its discretion decide. After a period of one year from the date of imposition of the assessment set out in Article 30.2.1, and the penalty set out in Article 30.2.2, an individual may apply to their Local for the penalty to be lifted and/or the assessment to be forgiven. The Local may decide to confirm, vary or nullify the penalty and/or forgive or vary the assessed damages at its discretion.