The union of support staff, representing around 1,300 people on campus, have been negotiating the renewal of their collective agreement for the last 15 months. Faced with both the disrespectful and unfair proposals from the University that would effectively turn them into second-class employees on campus, AND the impossibility to

be heard and taken seriously by University despite the support of a conciliator, the University of Ottawa support staff voted overwhelmingly –79% – in favour of a strike mandate.

This does not necessarily mean there will be a strike on campus. A strike is the last thing anyone wants. Similar to APUO’s full-time professors, this marks the second time a union has been pushed by unfair demands and unproductive negotiations by the University, and now requires its members to stand together in order to show that the University has not been listening to its staff.

At the end of the day, we all make up the University of Ottawa, and it only works when we all work together. For more info, please check out the PSUO-SSUO website.