Sabres rattle as strike vote looms

Ontario College representatives say teachers shouldn’t think that rejecting an employers' final offer won't lead to a strike.

Rachael Donovan, chair of the colleges' bargaining team, told the Canadian Press that management has been clear that it has presented its final offer. She adds that union claims that a vote against the contract won't necessarily lead to a strike are false.

But union negotiator Ted Montgomery told the Canadian Press that he's willing to continue bargaining. He added that he is also willing to bring an arbitrator in to settle the dispute if the Wednesday vote is rejected by union members.

Because of this, he said the 200,000 students enrolled at Ontario’s community colleges shouldn’t be too worried about an immediate strike if both sides cannot reach an agreement.

College faculty gave its union a 57 per cent strike mandate last month.

Officials representing Thunder Bay’s this area’s faculty say Confederation College instructors voted closer to 70 per cent in favour of that mandate.